Smokeball to Clio: how to switch without losing your documents
Smokeball is genuinely strong at document automation — that's part of why switching feels intimidating. The good news: Clio's free migration team handles your core data, and documents can migrate too — subject to scoping and volume-based fees you confirm up front. The work that's left is the awkward middle ground — files that show up after the cutover, per-matter uploads, and the templates you'll rebuild in Clio Draft. This guide is honest about all three.
First, the honest part
Smokeball is genuinely good at what it does. Its auto-forms are best-in-class — Fields, Asks, and conditional logic together produce a level of document automation that very few practice-management tools touch. AutoTime captures attorney activity passively. The Word ribbon is tightly integrated. If you're switching, none of that is "because Smokeball is bad."
Clio is genuinely good at different things — open APIs, an enormous integration ecosystem, mature billing and trust accounting, a universal mobile experience, and Clio Draft for documents. There are real tradeoffs in either direction.
This article isn't about why one beats the other. It's about how to keep your documents intact through the switch. If you've already decided to move, here's what's actually involved — what Clio's free migration team will do, what Smokeball will hand off, and what you'll have to do yourself.
What Clio's free migration team typically covers
For most Smokeball-to-Clio switches, this is the standard migration scope.
Per Clio's published Smokeball migration guide, the standard migration covers contacts, matters, incomplete tasks, notes, unbilled time entries, unbilled expense entries, outstanding matter balances, and contact trust balances. That's the bulk of your structured data — note that billed time and accounting history don't transfer, and tasks without a due date need one assigned before they come across.
Calendar events are not migrated — Clio's Smokeball guide notes that while calendar events can't be migrated, you may be able to bring them across using the calendar sync functions in Smokeball and Clio (Smokeball–Outlook sync or Microsoft 365 calendar sync). You'll re-establish the sync after cutover.
Documents are scoped separately. Per Clio's migration overview, documents can migrate "subject to scoping and additional fees based on volume." Confirm the exact inclusion list with your Clio onboarding rep at the kickoff call — the playbook is a moving target and your rep will give you a current quote.
For the broader picture of how Clio's free migration team works across systems — what's always covered, what's always quoted separately, and the typical timeline — see our pillar guide on migrating to Clio.
How your documents get to Clio
Clio's guide covers the data exports; the document handoff is coordinated case-by-case.
Clio's published Smokeball migration guide covers CSV report exports for your structured data — in Smokeball, Reports > Contact - Full List and Matter - Full List, saved as CSV — and says nothing about a document-delivery mechanic. Per Clio's migration overview, documents can migrate "subject to scoping and additional fees based on volume," so the document handoff is arranged case-by-case: ask Smokeball support whether a bulk file or document export is available for your account, and ask Clio's migrations team to scope the import.
The DIY version is simple in shape: get your documents out of Smokeball and onto your own computer — via Smokeball support's export or your firm's existing local copies — then upload them into the right Clio matters. For the upload itself, Clio Drive — Clio's desktop app — has a native Bulk File Upload feature that moves large quantities of documents (or large files) in the background through a queue it calls the "Pending Upload Queue." Clio cautions that moving large amounts of files in bulk may cause the system to freeze, so move them in smaller chunks. Validate the folder structure before anything gets loaded so files land in the matters they belong to.
Version history is the caveat. Smokeball stores some document versioning internally. Whether prior versions survive the export depends on which Smokeball tier you're on and how the migration is scoped. Confirm with both your Smokeball support contact and your Clio onboarding rep before assuming version history is preserved.
All of the above is per Clio's published migration documentation; confirm the current process with your onboarding rep, since Clio updates these workflows periodically.
Three paths for the document piece
Match the path to your firm's size and situation.
Clio's paid scoped document migration
As part of onboarding, Clio's migration team can handle the bulk document load — scoped case-by-case, with additional fees based on volume. For larger libraries, ask your onboarding rep for a quote.
BEST FOR
- • Mid-size to larger firms
- • You already trust Clio's team
- • Version history matters
Ask your Clio onboarding rep for a quote.
Third-party migrator
Universal Migrator and similar specialists offer Smokeball-to-Clio packages as four-figure engagements priced by volume (verify current pricing — vendor pricing changes).
BEST FOR
- • 100+ GB document libraries
- • Strict version-history needs
- • Consultant-led switches
DIY for the smaller / per-matter slice
Send to Case (free Chrome extension) handles the late-arrival documents and per-matter uploads that the bulk migration misses. Right-click, batch scan, or drag-drop straight into a Clio matter.
BEST FOR
- • Late-arrival documents
- • Files from email and portals
- • Per-matter cleanup uploads
When DIY fits (and when it doesn't)
Send to Case is not a migration tool. It uploads files from your browser to one Clio matter at a time. It does not move matters, contacts, calendars, billing, or trust data.
That's the disclaimer. Here's the concrete fit. Send to Case is built for the document situations that the bulk migration misses:
- Late-arrival documents during the 4-week gap. The Smokeball export is a snapshot. New filings, opposing-counsel productions, and client uploads keep arriving while migration is in flight.
- Files coming from email and portals during cutover. Court e-filing confirmations, opposing-counsel exhibits, evidence portal downloads — they all need a home in the right Clio matter.
- Per-matter uploads from the Smokeball web app. If you're doing one-by-one cleanup of a matter that didn't migrate cleanly, drag-and-drop into Send to Case is faster than Clio's web upload.
- Batch uploads from court portals once you're live in Clio. The right-click "Find Downloadable Files" scan finds every PDF, Word doc, and exhibit on a portal page and sends them to a single matter folder.
What it isn't built for: moving every document from Smokeball to Clio in one sweep. That's what Clio's paid scoped migration or a third-party migrator is for. Send to Case fills the gaps before, during, and after — and keeps filling them once you're settled in Clio. See the bulk upload guide for the batch-scan and zip-extraction workflow.
What you'll have to rebuild
Three Smokeball features don't carry over. Plan for them.
Auto-form templates
Smokeball's Forms — Fields, Asks, conditional logic — don't import into Clio Draft. They're a different system, with a different template structure. Plan to rebuild your most-used 10 to 20 templates first; the long tail can wait or be archived. This is a real loss, not a Smokeball flaw — Smokeball's auto-forms are best-in-class, and rebuilding them in Clio Draft takes real time. Budget it.
AutoTime workflow
Smokeball's AutoTime captures activity passively — every email, document edit, and call shows up as billable time without anyone touching a timer. Clio expects manual entries (or its newer AI-assisted time capture). Attorneys used to AutoTime will need to adjust their habit, or evaluate Clio Duo for similar capture.
Word ribbon integration
Smokeball's Word ribbon — open, edit, save back to the matter — has a direct analog in Clio Launcher: click the blue arrow icon next to a document's name and it opens in the software of your choice (for a Word firm, Word), and when you save your changes, a new version is automatically saved back to the document in Clio Manage. That's the same open-edit-save-to-matter loop, not a different workflow. Clio's drag-and-drop and Clio Drive cover the rest. Most attorneys adapt within a week or two.
Frame these as the price of the switch, not a Smokeball flaw. They are.
A 4-week switching timeline
A realistic plan from kickoff to cutover, with cleanup running through.
Week 1 — Kickoff and audit
Schedule the Clio kickoff call. Confirm exactly what's in the standard scope (contacts, matters, notes, incomplete tasks, unbilled time and expenses, outstanding balances — and how documents will be scoped and quoted). Ask Smokeball support about a bulk document export for your account. Audit your auto-form templates: which 10 to 20 do you use most? Those rebuild first.
Week 2 — Exports and document handoff, rebuild templates
Run the CSV report exports from Clio's Smokeball guide (Reports > Contact - Full List and Matter - Full List, saved as CSV). Get your documents out of Smokeball — via Smokeball support's export or your firm's existing local copies — and validate folder structure before Clio loads them. Start rebuilding your top auto-form templates in Clio Draft. Reconcile your trust ledger so cutover balances are clean.
Week 3 — Dual-run
Both systems live. Pick one as the source of truth for billing — the #1 way migrations go sideways is recording time in both. Use Send to Case for any new documents that arrive in this window: court filings, opposing counsel productions, client uploads. They go straight into the Clio matter so you're not playing catch-up at cutover.
Week 4 — Cutover and cleanup
Freeze writes in Smokeball. Final billing and trust snapshot for parallel-period reconciliation. Sweep through any matters that didn't migrate cleanly — late-arrival documents, missing exhibits, files that surfaced after the snapshot — and upload them via Send to Case. Keep Smokeball read-only for at least 30 days as a safety net. If uploads fail, see the troubleshooting guide.
A note on Smokeball Bill and Boost
Smokeball's documented in-app bulk-download path — downloading copies of all matter files for offline access — is available on the Grow and Prosper+ tiers. Lower-tier firms (Smokeball Bill or Boost) should confirm export options with Smokeball support directly. Smokeball's own help-center article on offline matter file download is the current reference. If self-export isn't available on your tier, lean on Clio's migration team to coordinate the handoff with Smokeball, rather than attempting DIY.
A note for Australian readers
The Clio migration mechanics are the same in Australia. Where AU firms differ is the contract end with Smokeball — many AU firms are on 36-month cycles with GST applied, so check your contract end date before scheduling the migration window. Send to Case is US-focused but works in AU Clio accounts with no regional restrictions; install it the same way and authorise against your AU Clio tenant.
Coming from a different practice management system? See the migrating-to-Clio pillar, the LEAP, MyCase, PracticePanther, or PCLaw guides.
Does Clio migrate documents from Smokeball for free?
+Clio's standard Smokeball migration covers contacts, matters, incomplete tasks, notes, unbilled time entries, unbilled expense entries, outstanding matter balances, and contact trust balances. Documents can migrate too, but per Clio's migration overview they are subject to scoping and additional fees based on volume — confirm the exact inclusion list and quote with your Clio onboarding rep.
How do documents get from Smokeball to Clio?
+Clio's published Smokeball migration guide covers CSV report exports for structured data and doesn't specify a document-delivery mechanic — the document handoff is coordinated case-by-case. Ask Smokeball support whether a bulk file or document export is available for your account, and ask Clio's migrations team to scope the import; documents migrate subject to scoping and additional fees based on volume.
Will my Smokeball auto-form templates transfer to Clio Draft?
+No. Smokeball's auto-form templates — including Fields, Asks, and conditional logic — do not import into Clio Draft. Plan to rebuild your most-used 10 to 20 templates first. This is a real cost of the switch, not a Smokeball flaw — Smokeball's auto-forms are best-in-class, and rebuilding them in Clio Draft takes real time.
Do I need a paid migrator like Universal Migrator?
+It depends on volume and version-history requirements. Universal Migrator offers a Smokeball-to-Clio route as a four-figure engagement priced by volume (verify current pricing on their site). Most small firms can rely on Clio's migration team plus Send to Case for the per-matter pieces. Larger libraries with strict version-history needs are where third-party migrators earn their fee.
What about documents that arrive after the cutover date?
+Late-arrival documents are the most overlooked part of any switch. Files come in from email, e-filing portals, opposing counsel, and clients during the dual-running window and after cutover. Send to Case is built for exactly this case — right-click, batch scan a portal, or drag-and-drop straight into the right Clio matter.
Does Send to Case migrate matters or contacts?
+No. Send to Case is not a migration tool. It uploads files from your browser to one Clio matter at a time. It does not move matters, contacts, calendars, billing, time entries, or trust data. The structured-data pieces are handled by Clio's complimentary migration team — though note that calendar events sync via Smokeball's calendar sync rather than migrate, and billing history doesn't transfer.
I'm worried about trust ledger accuracy — does this article cover that?
+Clio's complimentary migration team migrates contact trust balances — a balance snapshot at the time of export, not the full transaction history (accounting and financial history can't be migrated, per Clio's docs). Reconcile your Smokeball trust balances against bank statements before cutover, then have your Clio specialist walk you through their trust-balance import. Your Clio onboarding rep is the right person for IOLTA-specific timing.
Is the migration process different for Australian firms?
+The Clio migration mechanics are the same in Australia. AU contract terms with Smokeball differ — many AU firms are on 36-month cycles with GST — so check your contract end date before scheduling. Send to Case is US-focused but works in AU Clio accounts with no regional restrictions.
Keep going
Organizing matter documents in Clio
Organizing matter documents in Clio once your Smokeball files arrive.
Read guide →Clio folder structure
A consistent folder template for migrated matters.
Read guide →Clio document permissions
Decide who can see migrated matters before sensitive files go in.
Read guide →Send to Case isn't a migration tool
It's the cleanup tool you'll want once your migration is done — for the late-arrival documents, the per-matter uploads, and the court-portal downloads that keep arriving after cutover.