MLT Aikins is rolling out an AI-powered timekeeping platform across its seven offices in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, marking a significant shift away from manual billing processes.
The Western Canada-based firm has selected Laurel, a work intelligence platform designed to help professional services firms more accurately capture billable time and better understand how work is performed. The decision follows what the firm described as a rigorous pilot and evaluation process, assessing Laurel across time capture, efficiency, user experience, billing compliance, and profitability insights.
With the deployment, MLT Aikins aims to eliminate manual timekeeping, reduce revenue leakage, and improve consistency in delivering timely invoices to clients. The platform will also provide real-time visibility into how time is spent across matters, teams, and clients—data that can inform both operational and strategic decisions.
“We have been searching for a timekeeping solution that makes it easier for our lawyers to record time, capturing and structuring work data automatically, and from anywhere and on any device,” said Tamara Sinclair, Chief Operating Officer at MLT Aikins. “Laurel does that and proves to be a fantastic partner to work with; they are agile and responsive, and it felt like we were one team working together. We are excited to give our lawyers and client-facing team members access to this technology and to use the insights it generates to serve our clients better.”
Laurel positions itself as a “work intelligence” platform built specifically for professional services, using AI to automate time capture and ensure narratives comply with client billing and outside counsel guidelines. By connecting time data to business outcomes, the platform aims to help firms reduce write-downs, improve realization rates, and make more informed decisions about performance.
Emil Dyrvig, Chief Revenue Officer at Laurel, said MLT Aikins’ approach reflects a broader shift in the legal market.
“MLT Aikins ran a world-class evaluation process, putting Laurel through its paces across offices, practice areas and user types before committing,” said Dyrvig. “Their decision to deploy Laurel across their Canadian offices is a signal of the direction the market is moving.”
As law firms continue to explore AI beyond research and document review, MLT Aikins’ adoption of Laurel underscores growing momentum around applying automation to core operational workflows—particularly in areas like timekeeping that directly impact revenue and client relationships.