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PMS Sync is currently in a pilot programme; capabilities described here are live in pilot deployments.

User Guide

PMS Sync Staff User Guide

Last updated Owner: AlterspectiveFor: End users (staff)

This guide walks you through importing a matter from Aderant Expert into Clio Operate (built on the Sharedo platform) using PMS Sync — from signing in to verifying the imported matter. It covers the day-to-day staff workflow first, then the administrator features.

1. Getting Access

Access is managed per organisation. Ask your firm's Clio Operate administrator or your Alterspective account manager to add you. Once provisioned, you sign in with your organisation's identity provider — there are no separate PMS Sync credentials.

2. Signing In

  1. Go to the PMS Sync portal (your administrator will give you the address) and choose Sign in.
  2. Pick Sign in with Alterspective or Sign in with Microsoft Entra ID and complete your usual login.
  3. You land on the dashboard. If you see a "not configured" message, your organisation's connection has not been set up yet — contact your administrator.

If your firm uses PMS Sync embedded inside the Clio Operate portal, opening the embedded page signs you in automatically as your Clio Operate user.

3. Choosing an Environment

If your organisation has more than one target environment (for example Production and UAT), an environment switcher appears at the top of the dashboard. Everything you do — search, preview, import — runs against the selected environment. Check it before importing.

4. Finding a Matter

Use the search box on the dashboard. You can search by matter number (e.g. 82001), client name or code (e.g. CL080001), or free text such as a party name. Results come live from your firm's Aderant system.

  • Matters that have already been imported show a green Imported badge and a View → link that opens the existing work item.
  • Matters not yet imported show Preview →.

5. Previewing a Matter

Click Preview → to see exactly what the import will do before anything is created. The preview shows the Aderant source data, the Clio Operate work type the matter will become, the matter's dates and attributes, and every party with their mapped role. Nothing is written during a preview.

Resolving parties (the decision that matters)

For the client and each party, PMS Sync searches existing Clio Operate contacts by name and shows you any candidate matches. For each one, you choose:

  • Create new — the import creates a new contact (the default when no match is right). Contacts created this way are stamped with their Aderant identifiers for traceability.
  • Link to existing: [name] — the import links the matter to the contact you select instead of creating a duplicate.

Take a moment here: linking to the right existing contact keeps your firm's contact data clean. The preview shows a roll-up of how many contacts will be created versus linked, and lists any default security teams that will be added to the matter.

6. Importing

  1. When the preview looks right, click Import into Clio Operate.
  2. A confirmation dialog summarises what will be created. Confirm to run the import.
  3. The result card shows what was created — the work item, contacts created or linked, teams added — with an Open in Clio Operate link to the new matter.

You cannot create duplicates by re-importing. If the matter was already imported, PMS Sync opens the existing work item instead — you'll see "Matter was already imported".

If the result card warns that a default team was not added (for example because a configured role is invalid), tell your administrator — the matter was created, but its security teams need attention in Settings.

7. Import History

The History page lists every import attempt — who imported what, when, into which destination environment, and whether it succeeded. Click a row for details and a link to the work item. Failed attempts are recorded too, so nothing disappears silently.

8. Administrator Features

The following appear only for users with the administrator role.

  • Settings → Connections: configure each environment's Aderant agent URL/key and Clio Operate credentials, and optionally a SIEM webhook for audit event export. When the agent is reached over an Azure Relay tunnel (the Proxy URL is a …servicebus.windows.net/… endpoint), also fill in the Azure Relay SAS Key and SAS Rule Name (the relay's Send rule, e.g. proxy-send) so the proxy can sign its requests — see the Deployment Guide for the on-premise agent and relay setup. Leave these blank for a direct or ngrok proxy URL.
  • Settings → Default Teams: choose the teams added to every imported matter (per work type, in a chosen role) so matter security is set on import.
  • Settings → Mapping: control how Aderant fields map to Clio Operate work types, attributes, key dates, and participant roles. Use Preview mapping against a real matter before saving, and Backup/share to export your mapping before changes.
  • History → Schedule: enable the scheduled job, set its interval, and add a Teams webhook. The schedule runs close-sync and checks for new auto-import matters, notifying the webhook only when there is something to action. Run now triggers it on demand.
  • History → Close-sync: lists imported matters that are closed in Aderant but still open in Clio Operate. Review the dry-run list, then apply to close them. Close-sync never reopens matters.
  • History → Auto-import: for nominated client codes, a scheduled dry-run finds new Aderant matters; review the list and apply to import them.

9. Troubleshooting

  • "Import writes are not enabled": imports are switched off for this environment (previews still work). An administrator can enable them in Settings — this is deliberate during pilot phases.
  • Sign-in is refused: your account is not a member of the organisation, or has no role on the PMS Sync application. Access denials are intentional — ask your administrator to check your membership.
  • Search returns nothing: check the environment switcher first, then try the matter number on its own. If nothing returns at all, the Aderant connection may be down — administrators can check the connection status, and the History page shows whether recent imports succeeded.
  • A party matched the wrong contact: the link/create decision is yours at preview time — re-check the candidate list before importing. If a wrong link was already imported, the participant can be corrected on the work item in Clio Operate.
  • The matter imported with the wrong work type or dates: the mapping configuration decides this — report the matter number to your administrator, who can adjust the mapping and verify with the mapping preview.

For configuration and architecture detail, see the Technical Overview. During the pilot, your Alterspective contact is the escalation path for anything this guide doesn't cover.