Written by Seth Wise — the engineer who answers if you ever use the contact form.
For office managers and managing partners running PCLaw or Time Matters on a server in the closet. This guide covers where your firm's data actually lives, what the vendor's promoted transition path does and doesn't move, the trust-accounting wrinkle, and a step-by-step export you can run yourself — with a verification checklist at the end so "we got it all" is something you can prove, not something you hope.
This is the vendor's version-support date for the 2024 R1 release, not a product shutdown. Earlier versions have already passed their end-of-support dates — the full ladder is below. (vendor End of Version Support FAQ — verified 2026-08-12)
The short answer: identify your versions and database engines, back up the server and verify the backup restores, record in-app counts — including printed trust listings — run every built-in export and report to CSV, collect attached and loose documents, then reconcile everything against your counts. Full steps below, including the trust-account wrinkle.
In 2019, LexisNexis and LEAP Legal Software formed a joint venture — announced May 8, 2019, closed June 5, 2019 — that took over PCLaw and Time Matters. At the announcement, the products served 15,000 firms and about 130,000 users; that remains the last published install-base figure. (LexisNexis and PRWeb announcements, 2019 — verified 2026-08-12)
The products are still sold — Time Matters 2025 and 2026 releases exist — but support is being ended version by version on a rolling schedule. The vendor's End of Version Support FAQ, published on its community portal, sets these dates:
| Version | End of version support | Status as of August 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Time Matters 16.0–16.3 | 2022-06-30 | Passed |
| Time Matters 16.4–16.6 | 2022-12-31 | Passed |
| 2022 R1 | 2024-12-31 | Passed |
| 2023 R1 / R2 | 2025-12-31 | Passed |
| 2024 R1 | 2026-12-31 | Supported through December 2026 |
(vendor End of Version Support FAQ, community portal — verified 2026-08-12)
The same FAQ warns that installations past their support date are "vulnerable to data corruption, broken links, and integration issues" — the vendor's words, not ours. If your version is on the passed list, that warning already applies to you.
The path the vendor promotes is a move to LEAP's cloud platform, using LEAP's in-house "Strato" transition tooling. That path is real and many firms will take it — but it moves a defined subset of your data, which is why the next two sections exist.
Since version 10 (released October 2009), Time Matters has run on Microsoft SQL Server. If you're on any version from the last decade and a half, your matters, contacts, calendar, and notes are rows in a SQL database on your own server — orderly, queryable, and exportable with standard tools, once you know the schema. (corroborated product history — verified 2026-08-12)
PCLaw version 14 and earlier stores data in the proprietary FairCom c-tree format — not SQL Server. Getting data out of c-tree files requires FairCom ODBC drivers (a 32-bit DSN), per the extraction procedure published by Universal Migrator, the migration tooling vendor. SQL Server editions of PCLaw also exist and ran alongside for years, so the installed base is mixed. (Universal Migrator knowledge base — verified 2026-08-12)
So step one of any export is identification: which product, which version, and which database engine. Two firms both "running PCLaw" can need entirely different extraction paths.
One more wrinkle: documents. Depending on how your firm worked, documents may be attached to matters inside the database, sitting loose in folders on the file server, or — most commonly — both. Any export plan that only touches the database misses the loose half.
LEAP's published transition scope, per its community FAQ, covers: contacts, matters, client and staff details, correspondence, opening balances, and transaction history. The same FAQ states that documents not attached to matters are excluded, and that PCLaw migration scope "varies by version and data-entry habits." (LEAP community transition FAQ — verified 2026-08-12)
Neither of those caveats is a criticism of LEAP — a transition tool that moves you onto a new platform is doing its job. But they mean the transition scope and "everything on your server" are two different sets, and the gap between them is yours to manage.
Time Matters adds its own complication. Per Universal Migrator, the migration tooling vendor: "in Time Matters, just about every field is a custom field" — and firms migrating are asked to complete a custom-field mapping spreadsheet. Two decades of custom fields is where matter data quietly lives at most Time Matters firms, so how that spreadsheet gets filled out determines what survives. (universalmigrator.com — verified 2026-08-12)
If the answers come back clear and in writing, the transition path may serve you well. If they don't, you have your gap analysis — do the export below before you switch anything off.
These are the general shapes of the work — exact menus differ by version, which is one more reason step 1 comes first. Budget real time: the verification steps are the ones firms skip and regret.
Record the exact product and version for both PCLaw and Time Matters (Help/About screens), and determine the database engine: Time Matters v10+ means SQL Server; PCLaw v14 and earlier means FairCom c-tree, while SQL Server editions of PCLaw also exist. Everything downstream depends on this answer.
a one-page inventory of products, versions, engines
Snapshot the whole server (database files, program folders, document shares) before touching anything. Then actually restore it somewhere and confirm it opens. An unverified backup is a hope, not a backup.
a verified, restorable snapshot
From inside the running software, write down the counts you'll verify against later: matters, contacts, time entries, and trust balances. Print or PDF the trust listing report while the software still produces it — this becomes your reconciliation baseline.
a dated count sheet + printed trust listing
Work through the export and reporting functions your versions offer, saving to CSV wherever possible. Export more than you think you need — a report you skip today is one you may not be able to run after end of support.
a folder of dated CSV exports
Gather both halves: documents attached inside the system, and the loose folders on the file server. Preserve folder structure and file dates. This is the half that transition tooling excludes when documents aren't attached to matters.
a complete document collection, attached + loose
Billing and accounting are PCLaw's core, and the ledgers are the crown jewels. Export or print the general ledger and every trust ledger, client by client, with full transaction history — not just balances.
general + trust ledgers, full history
Compare what you exported against the count sheet from step 3, record type by record type. Investigate every variance until it has an explanation. A number that doesn't match and can't be explained means something didn't come out.
a reconciliation with zero unexplained variances
Copy the whole export set to two independent destinations, at least one of them offline or offsite. Then leave the source system untouched until you're certain — keeping the originals costs nothing and saves everything.
two verified copies, one offline
Client trust records are the one part of this data your firm may be professionally required to keep — for years after the software that holds them stops being supported. Requirements vary by state, but as examples: Washington requires trust records to be kept at least seven years, and New York's requirement is likewise seven years. (WSBA guidance; NY sources — verified 2026-08-12)
The duty survives the software. "The old system stopped working" is not a retention strategy, which is why steps 3 and 6 above treat the trust listing and trust ledgers as the records to capture first and verify hardest.
Not legal advice. Retention periods and record-keeping requirements differ by jurisdiction and change over time. Check your state bar's rules or ask your counsel what applies to your firm.
If you can check every box, you've done a real export. If any box stays unchecked, that's the gap — and it's better to find it now, while the software still runs.
The eight steps above, run by your own team or IT provider. Free except for time — and the time is real, especially the verification. Best when your data is simple, your versions are recent, and someone owns the checklist.
Start at step 1 ↑The vendor's promoted path onto LEAP's cloud via its Strato tooling. Ask the five written questions first — and run the export above for anything the answers leave out, before the old system goes dark.
Review the five questions ↑The PCLaw + Time Matters Rescue Kit: full extraction across both engines, attached and unattached documents, general and trust ledgers reconciled, every count verified in a signed report. From $12,500, typically 3–5 weeks.
See the Rescue Kit →Whichever path you take, the count sheet and printed trust listing from step 3 cost you an afternoon and make every later option verifiable. Do that part this week.
Facts on this page. All facts retrieved and verified 2026-08-12. Joint venture dates and 15,000-firm / 130,000-user figure: LexisNexis and PRWeb announcements (2019). End of Version Support ladder and the "vulnerable to data corruption, broken links, and integration issues" warning: the vendor's End of Version Support FAQ, community.pclawtimematters.com. LEAP transition scope, unattached-documents exclusion, and "varies by version and data-entry habits": LEAP community transition FAQ, community.leap.us. "In Time Matters, just about every field is a custom field" and the custom-field mapping spreadsheet: universalmigrator.com. Time Matters on Microsoft SQL Server since version 10 (October 2009): corroborated product history. PCLaw v14-and-earlier FairCom c-tree storage and the FairCom ODBC extraction path: Universal Migrator knowledge base. Trust-record retention examples (WA ≥7 years, NY 7 years): WSBA guidance and New York sources. Support dates are the vendor's version-support dates, not product shutdowns; nothing on this page is legal advice.
Fixed quote within 48 hours of scoping. Or go straight to the PCLaw + Time Matters Rescue Kit.