Time Savings & ROI
How Thea saves hours of billable time on every timeline
The Cost of Manual Timeline Creation
Creating timelines manually is time-consuming and expensive:
Traditional Process
-
Document review (2-3 hours)
- Read through all case documents
- Identify relevant dates and events
- Take notes and extract key information
-
Data organization (1-2 hours)
- Create spreadsheet or document
- Copy dates, parties, and event descriptions
- Organize chronologically
- Add source references
-
Visualization creation (2-4 hours)
- Set up PowerPoint or timeline software
- Format timeline layout and scales
- Add each event manually with styling
- Adjust spacing and alignment
- Add categories and color coding
-
Review and refinement (1-2 hours)
- Check for accuracy
- Adjust formatting and layout
- Make requested changes
- Export to final format
Total time: 6-11 hours for a typical case timeline
With Associates & Paralegals
At typical billing rates:
- Associate ($200-400/hour) × 6-8 hours = $1,200-3,200
- Paralegal ($100-150/hour) × 6-8 hours = $600-1,200
That's just for one timeline. Complex cases often need multiple timelines or frequent updates.
The Thea Approach
AI-Powered Process
-
Upload documents (2-5 minutes)
- Drag and drop PDF, Word, or text files
- Automatic processing and indexing
-
AI extraction (2-3 minutes)
- Thea automatically identifies dates and events
- Extracts parties and key information
- Categorizes events by type
- Links to source documents
-
Review and refine (5-10 minutes)
- Review AI-generated timeline
- Make any needed adjustments
- Use conversational refinement for changes
- Customize categories and styling
-
Export (1 minute)
- Generate professional PDF or Word
- Ready for presentation or filing
Total time: 10-20 minutes for a typical case timeline
Time Savings Breakdown
| Task | Manual | With Thea | Time Saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Document review | 2-3 hours | 0 minutes* | 2-3 hours |
| Data extraction | 1-2 hours | 2-3 minutes | 1-2 hours |
| Visualization | 2-4 hours | 5 minutes | 2-4 hours |
| Refinement | 1-2 hours | 5-10 minutes | 1-2 hours |
| Total | 6-11 hours | 15-20 min | ~6-10 hours |
*Thea handles extraction automatically, though you'll still review for legal analysis
ROI Calculator
Small Law Firm (5 lawyers)
- Timelines per year: 50
- Time saved per timeline: 7 hours average
- Total time saved: 350 hours/year
- Value at $200/hour: $70,000/year
Mid-Size Firm (20 lawyers)
- Timelines per year: 200
- Time saved per timeline: 7 hours average
- Total time saved: 1,400 hours/year
- Value at $250/hour: $350,000/year
Large Firm (100+ lawyers)
- Timelines per year: 1,000+
- Time saved per timeline: 7 hours average
- Total time saved: 7,000+ hours/year
- Value at $300/hour: $2,100,000+/year
Beyond Billable Hours
Time savings translate to more than just money:
For Associates
- Less tedious work - Spend time on legal analysis, not data entry
- Faster deliverables - Complete projects in hours instead of days
- Better work-life balance - Go home earlier, reduce weekend work
For Partners
- More billable hours - Teams can take on more matters
- Higher quality - Less time on formatting, more on strategy
- Client satisfaction - Faster turnaround on deliverables
For Clients
- Lower legal bills - 10-20 minutes vs. 6-10 hours means lower fees
- Faster results - Get timeline deliverables within hours
- Better outcomes - Legal teams focus on winning, not formatting
Real-World Example: Complex Litigation
The Case
- Employment dispute with 3-year history
- 150 pages of documents
- Multiple parties and witnesses
- Needed timeline for settlement conference
Manual Approach
- Time: 12 hours (associate + paralegal)
- Cost: ~$2,400 in billable time
- Turnaround: 3 days
With Thea
- Time: 25 minutes
- Cost: ~$125 in billable time (associate review)
- Turnaround: Same day
Savings: 11.5 hours, $2,275, 2.5 days
When the opposition requested an updated timeline after new discovery, it took 5 more minutes instead of another 4 hours.
Compounding Benefits
The time savings compound across:
Multiple Timelines per Case
Many cases need several timelines:
- Overall case chronology
- Financial transaction timeline
- Communications timeline
- Regulatory filing timeline
Manual: 6-8 hours each × 4 timelines = 24-32 hours With Thea: 15-20 minutes each × 4 timelines = 1-1.5 hours
Updates and Revisions
Cases evolve, documents are added, details change:
Manual updates: 2-4 hours per revision With Thea: Upload new documents, regenerate in 5 minutes
Reusable Infrastructure
Once documents are uploaded:
- Create multiple timeline variations instantly
- Try different categorizations
- Focus on specific time periods or parties
- Export in multiple formats
Efficiency at Scale
Thea's benefits multiply across your organization:
Standardization
- Consistent formatting across all cases
- Uniform categorization approaches
- Professional branding and styling
- No training new staff on manual processes
Knowledge Capture
- Timelines remain in the system
- Easy to reference past cases
- Templates and patterns emerge
- Institutional knowledge preserved
Resource Allocation
- Junior staff can create professional timelines
- Senior lawyers review instead of create
- Paralegals focus on substantive work
- Better use of expensive expertise
Hidden Costs of Manual Timelines
Beyond direct time, manual processes have hidden costs:
Opportunity Cost
- Cases not taken due to capacity constraints
- Clients going elsewhere for faster service
- Associates leaving due to tedious work
Error Risk
- Manual data entry errors
- Formatting inconsistencies
- Missed dates or events
- Time spent on corrections
Stress & Burnout
- Late nights formatting PowerPoint
- Weekend work on timeline updates
- Frustration with tedious tasks
- Reduced job satisfaction
Investment Perspective
Think of Thea as infrastructure:
Traditional approach: Pay the full cost (6-10 hours) every single time With Thea: Small subscription cost + 15-20 minutes per timeline
Break-even is typically reached after just 2-3 timelines per year.
Start Saving Time Today
Ready to reclaim hours of billable time?