Time Savings & ROI

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?

Get started with Thea →