What each system gives you natively
All three are full practice management systems. Each gives you a matter to file a note against and a way to record time. All three have shipped AI features. None of them, on the pages we reviewed, describes taking a client phone call and producing a structured attendance note from it. Their AI effort has gone into documents already in the matter, legal research, and time capture.
| LEAP | Smokeball | Actionstep | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where the note goes | Saved to the matter with the documents, emails and notes | A Memo on the matter, or a document in the matter files | A File Note on the matter |
| Built-in AI (per vendor site) | Matter AI (answers and drafts from what is saved in the matter), LawY (legal research), AI Prompts, Generator. LEAP says these are included in the subscription. | Archie, an AI matter assistant that drafts, reviews, summarises and answers questions in a matter. Smokeball lists it as an add-on to Grow and Prosper+. | Actionstep Intelligence: Trace (AI time and revenue capture) and Acumen (AI business intelligence). Workflow automation agents listed as coming soon. |
| Time capture | AutoTime, automatic time recording | AutoTime, tracks activity across the matter including time spent creating Memos. Included in Prosper+, add-on for Grow. | Trace, passive activity tracking across Actionstep, Outlook, Word and other tools, with drafted narratives |
| Attendance note drafted from a call transcript | Not described on the LEAP AI page | Not described for Archie on the Smokeball AI page | Not described on the Actionstep AI page |
| Zapier app | Yes, listed as LEAP (Legal). Actions include Create Time Entry, Create Fee and Create Comment. No create-note action listed. We could not confirm availability for Australian LEAP accounts, so ask LEAP. | Yes. Actions include Create Matter Memo and Upload File. No action to create a time or fee entry. | Yes. Actions include Create File Note and Create Time Entry. |
| Native CallNote integration | No | No | No |
Two fair points in the vendors' favour. First, LEAP's Matter AI and Smokeball's Archie read what is saved in the matter. Once a good attendance note is in the matter, those tools can use it when they summarise the file or draft the next letter. A well-structured note makes them more useful. Second, automatic time capture in all three is aimed at work done at the computer. A phone call is exactly the kind of work it can miss, which is why the time entry is a deliberate step in the workflow below. Our piece on capturing billable time from client calls goes into that.
Where the gap is
A practice management system gives you the box to type the attendance note into. Someone still has to write it. In practice that means a fee earner typing from memory between calls, or at the end of the day, or not at all. The attendance note for a ten minute phone call with a client about a settlement date should take a moment. It often becomes two lines, written hours later.
The note matters beyond housekeeping. It is your record of the instructions received and the advice given if the retainer is later disputed, and the time entry that goes with it supports your costs. Under the Legal Profession Uniform Law, which applies in NSW, Victoria and WA, legal costs must be fair and reasonable (s 172), and a contemporaneous note of what was done is the easiest way to show it. See file notes as evidence and the law firm file note compliance checklist.
Step 1: get a transcript of the call
CallNote does not record calls and never stores audio. It needs a transcript that already exists. Where that comes from depends on how you take calls:
- Dialpad or Aircall. Connect once and each call transcript arrives automatically. Setup guides: Dialpad, Aircall.
- Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Download the .vtt after the meeting or call and upload it, or forward it to your Email-in address. Step-by-step guides: Teams, Zoom.
- Any other phone system that produces a transcript. Paste the text, upload a .txt, or forward the transcript email.
- No transcript at all. For a desk phone or an in-person conference, dictate a voice memo straight after, in your own words. The note is built from your dictation.
If your phone system is doing the recording or transcribing, consent is your responsibility. Recording a private conversation generally needs all-party consent in NSW, WA, SA, Tasmania and the ACT. Victoria, Queensland and the NT allow a party to the conversation to record. The federal Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 applies separately. Tell the client at the start of the call. This is general information, not legal advice. Detail is in our guide to recording calls in Australia.
Step 2: generate the note in your firm's format
Choose the legal attendance note template, or build your own by pasting one of your past attendance notes. CallNote builds a template from it that keeps your headings and your shorthand, so ATT, TC, CL, INS and ADV come out the way your firm writes them. The draft takes about two minutes. You can try the format without an account using the free attendance note generator.
Step 3: review, then publish it
The fee earner who took the call reads the draft and fixes anything wrong. This step is not optional. The solicitor is responsible for the note, not the software. Sections the call did not cover are marked as not covered, which is a useful prompt in itself. Then Publish. The note is sealed with a SHA-256 checksum, becomes immutable, and any later correction is an append-only amendment in the audit log. That gives you a fixed record of what the note said on the day, whatever later happens to the copy in the matter.
Step 4: get it into the matter
This is the manual step, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise. There are three routes.
Route A: save the PDF to the matter
Export the published note as a PDF and save it to the matter the way you save any document. In LEAP and Smokeball that is the matter's documents. In Actionstep it is the matter's documents, or attached to a File Note. A naming convention helps everyone find it later, for example "2026-09-21 Phone call with client, settlement date". The PDF is the better choice when you want the locked version, as lodged, on the file.
Route B: paste the text
Copy the note text and paste it into a Smokeball Memo, an Actionstep File Note, or a note on the LEAP matter. Text in the native note field is searchable inside the system and shows up in the matter timeline with everything else. Many firms do both: paste the text for day-to-day use and save the PDF as the sealed copy.
Route C: Zapier, where the system supports it
CallNote has a Zapier trigger that fires each time a note is lodged. It carries the title, client name and email, the full note text, the lodged time and a link back to the note. Setup is on our Zapier page. What you can do with that depends on the actions each vendor has published:
- Actionstep is the most complete. Its Zapier app lists Create File Note and Create Time Entry, plus Find Matter. A Zap can find the matter and create the File Note from the published note.
- Smokeball lists Create Matter Memo and Upload File, plus Find Matter. A Zap can create the Memo. There is no action to create a time or fee entry, so time stays manual or with AutoTime. Smokeball's support page shows Zapier as available on its Bill, Boost, Grow and Prosper+ plans.
- LEAP is listed on Zapier as LEAP (Legal), with Create Time Entry, Create Fee, Create Comment and Search Matters. No action to create a note or upload a document is listed, and we could not confirm the app is offered to Australian LEAP accounts. For LEAP, plan on PDF or paste.
Step 5: record the time entry
Do it at the same moment you file the note. The transcript gives you the call date and the note gives you the narrative, so the entry writes itself: "Phone call with client about settlement date and building and pest report. Advice on extension options". Record the units from your call log under your costs agreement. In Actionstep the Zapier Create Time Entry action can draft this for you, and the same action is listed for LEAP. We suggest a person still checks every entry before it is billed.
Worked example
A fictional conveyancing matter. The client calls about a building and pest report two days before the cooling-off period ends. The call runs eleven minutes on Dialpad. The transcript arrives in CallNote by itself. After review, the published note reads:
- Why the client called
Daniel has received the building and pest report. He wants to know his options before the cooling-off period ends at 5pm on Thursday.
- Client's instructions
Daniel says the report shows active termite damage to the rear deck and moisture under the floor. He still wants the property if the price reflects the repairs. He instructs us to ask for a price reduction first. He does not want to pull out unless the vendor refuses to negotiate.
- Advice given
- He has the right to pull out (rescind) during the cooling-off period, and forfeits 0.25% of the price if he does.
- The vendor does not have to agree to a reduction.
- Get a repair quote today, so any request for a reduction is backed up.
- We can ask for the cooling-off period to be extended, but the vendor must agree in writing.
- Risks explained
If there is no agreement and no extension by 5pm Thursday, Daniel is bound by the contract on its current terms. He understands.
- Not covered on this call
- Whether his finance is approved.
- Whether he has spoken to his lender about the report.
- Next steps
- JM: email the vendor's solicitor today asking for a 5 business day extension and flagging the price discussion.
- Daniel: send the repair quote by 10am tomorrow.
- JM: call Daniel at 2pm tomorrow with the vendor's response.
- Time
2 units. Phone call with client about the building and pest report, cooling-off options and instructions to negotiate.
The example assumes a NSW residential contract, where the purchaser forfeits 0.25% of the price on rescinding during the cooling-off period (Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW) s 66V). JM then pastes the text into the matter, saves the PDF alongside it and enters the two units. The "not covered" line prompts a quick follow-up about finance, which is the sort of thing that gets missed in a hurried two-line note. For more on this practice area see conveyancing file notes.
Time per note: where it goes
We are not going to quote a study, because we have not seen one we trust. Here is where the time goes in each approach.
| Step | Typed by hand into the PMS | Transcript to note, then into the PMS |
|---|---|---|
| Recalling the call | From memory, often hours later | Not needed. The transcript is the source. |
| Writing the note | Fee earner types all of it | Draft generated in about two minutes |
| Review | Rarely a separate step | Fee earner reads and corrects the draft |
| Filing to the matter | Already there | Paste or save the PDF. Automatic via Zapier for Actionstep File Notes and Smokeball Memos. |
| Time entry | Separate, easy to forget | Done with the note, narrative already written |
| Record integrity | Editable note in the matter | Sealed original in CallNote, working copy in the matter |
Our own estimate is that this saves roughly ten minutes per note for a fee earner who was previously writing a proper attendance note by hand. That is our estimate, not a measured industry figure, and the saving is smaller if your current notes are two lines. The bigger change for most firms is that the note gets written at all, with the instructions and advice recorded accurately, on the day. If you are weighing this against adding support staff, see automating attendance notes vs a paralegal.
When you do not need us
- Your fee earners already write full attendance notes straight into the matter on the day. Keep doing that.
- You have no source of transcripts and no appetite for dictating a voice memo after calls.
- You need the note to appear in the matter with no human step at all, and you are on LEAP. We cannot offer that today.
For everyone else, the workflow above adds one paste or one PDF save per note. More on how firms use it is on our page for law firms.
Common questions
Does CallNote integrate with LEAP, Smokeball or Actionstep?
No. CallNote has no native integration with LEAP, Smokeball or Actionstep. The note gets into the matter by saving the PDF, pasting the text, or through Zapier where the practice management system has published suitable actions. Actionstep lists Create File Note and Create Time Entry on Zapier, and Smokeball lists Create Matter Memo and Upload File.
Do LEAP, Smokeball or Actionstep write attendance notes from phone calls?
Not on the product pages we reviewed in September 2026. LEAP promotes Matter AI, LawY, AI Prompts, Generator and AutoTime. Smokeball promotes Archie and AutoTime. Actionstep promotes Trace time capture and Acumen business intelligence. These work on documents in the matter, research and time capture. None describes drafting an attendance note from a call transcript. Check with your vendor, as these products change often.
Can Zapier create the attendance note in my practice management system automatically?
For Actionstep, yes. Its Zapier app has a Create File Note action. For Smokeball, a Zap can create a Matter Memo or upload a file to a matter. LEAP is listed on Zapier with time entry, fee and comment actions but no note action, and we could not confirm availability for Australian accounts. In every case the Zap must match the right matter, so include the matter number in the note title and test first.
Should I save the PDF or paste the text into the matter?
Both have a place. Pasted text is searchable inside the practice management system and sits in the matter timeline. The PDF is the locked version as lodged. Many firms paste the text for everyday use and save the PDF as the sealed copy. The original stays sealed in CallNote with a SHA-256 checksum and audit log either way.
Will automatic time capture in my PMS pick up the phone call?
Often not. LEAP AutoTime, Smokeball AutoTime and Actionstep Trace are described by their vendors as tracking activity in the software and on the computer. A call on a desk phone or mobile may leave no trace there. Record the time entry when you file the attendance note, using the note as the narrative.
Is it safe to put client call transcripts into an AI tool?
That depends on the tool, and a solicitor has to be satisfied about confidentiality under ASCR r 9. For CallNote: data is hosted in Sydney (AWS ap-southeast-2), encrypted, and not used to train AI. It never records calls or stores audio. Team members see only their own notes, while owners and admins see all notes. Review any vendor's terms yourself before sending client information to it.