Law firms
Clio, MyCase, Smokeball and NetDocuments data export: what the vendor terms say about ownership, export and AI
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The short answer
Clio, MyCase (8am) and Smokeball say in their terms that the firm owns the data it puts in, PracticePanther carves that data out of what it owns, and NetDocuments disclaims ownership of customer data. But each one limits how data leaves: Clio, Smokeball, 8am and NetDocuments restrict automated access or scraping, Clio and 8am bar using their AI outputs to train AI, and exit windows are short, from a right to delete at termination up to about 90 days (source: Clio Terms of Service (3.7, 3.8, 8.2, 10.7, 14.3, 17.3), 8am Terms of Service, Parts I and III (updated Aug 2026), Smokeball Terms (s.1, s.2, s.14, s.15, s.18, s.19, updated Jul 9, 2026), PracticePanther User Agreement (7, 10, 11, 16, updated Jun 22, 2023), NetDocuments SaaS Agreement (page updated Jun 16, 2026)).
For a law firm, data export for AI licensing has one more limit the vendors don't set: these systems are full of client information. A system-wide export is never an option. Only reviewed, firm-owned material, pulled out with the vendor's own export tools, can go into a license.
What practice-management and document systems store
Clio, MyCase, Smokeball and PracticePanther organize everything around the matter: contacts, matters, documents, emails, calendar entries, tasks, time entries, invoices and trust transactions. Most include intake or CRM features that hold leads and consultation notes. NetDocuments and iManage hold the firm's documents in matter workspaces, usually alongside a knowledge or precedent area.
Inside those same systems sits the firm-owned layer AI buyers can actually use: document templates, workflow and task templates, custom field designs, intake form designs, and the firm's own knowledge folders. The vendors' own definitions show how mixed the two are. PracticePanther's agreement defines “Client Data” as your customers' personal, transaction and other data and “User Data” as your firm's, and treats them together as “User & Client Data” (section 10) (source: PracticePanther User Agreement (7, 10, 11, 16, updated Jun 22, 2023)). Smokeball's Data Backup covers “documents and basic matter and contact card data” (s.1) (source: Smokeball Terms (s.1, s.2, s.14, s.15, s.18, s.19, updated Jul 9, 2026)). None of the export tools separate firm-owned material from client material for you.
Why a system-wide data export is not an option for a law firm
A lawyer may not reveal information relating to the representation of a client without informed consent, and Rule 1.6(c) requires reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure of, or access to, that information (source: ABA Model Rule 1.6). ABA Formal Opinion 480 says the protection covers information in public records and even client identity (source: ABA Formal Opinion 480 (Mar 6, 2018)). Rule 1.18 extends it to prospective clients who never hired you (source: ABA Model Rule 1.18), which puts the intake and lead records in these systems off limits too.
Some AI data buyers ask for exactly what a law firm can't give. One buyer program asks for at least five systems, naming email, internal chat, file storage and a CRM, and says leaving out whole systems lowers the offer; large buyers list connectors for Gmail, Outlook, Slack and Teams (source: program terms, Regulr buyer directory). Each of these is a program's own published term; our buyer directory lists the programs and links to their published terms.
No connectors to client systems
Don't grant a buyer API access or a connector to Clio, MyCase, Smokeball, PracticePanther, NetDocuments, iManage or the firm's mailboxes, even with a promise to filter later. Filtering after the fact means the client information has already left the firm. Export the reviewed firm-owned items yourself and hand over only those. The law firm data licensing guide sets out the full rule set.
Law practice software data export terms, side by side
| Vendor | Who owns the data | Automated access and AI | After you cancel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clio | Content remains the property of the subscriber (3.7) | Automated access prohibited except through features designed for it (3.8); AI Services and Outputs and Clio-supplied Materials may not be used to train or develop AI (14.3, 17.3(c)) | Ninety days to retrieve (8.2); deleted no less than 90 days after cancellation (10.7) |
| MyCase (8am) | You own Customer Content; 8am keeps a perpetual license to aggregated, anonymized content without personal information for internal use (Part I s.15) | No robots, spiders or scraping (Part I s.12); IQ content may not be used to create, train or improve AI (Part III s.1.A) | 8am may delete the account and Customer Content on termination (Part I s.13); export is a paid add-on (Part III s.3) |
| Smokeball | You retain all rights of ownership in data you upload, import or generate (s.18) | No automation for data access, extraction or migration unless Smokeball provides or authorizes it (s.2) | 30 days of access to retrieve data (s.15); may delete account and data after 30 days (s.14) |
| PracticePanther | Panther Software owns the service, except User & Client Data (11) | No commercial exploitation of the service (7(a)); no AI clause found | Data file on written request within 90 days; may delete on day 91 (16(c)) |
| NetDocuments | Disclaims ownership of IP in Customer Repository Data | Scraping and crawling barred; no extracting data to train a system that would replicate or compete with the service | Remove data with free mass export tools before the term or transition period ends; may delete 30 days after |
| iManage | Customers are governed by the Cloud Services Agreement, which is not public | Public terms bar scraping and access other than through supported interfaces | Check your signed agreement |
Clio data export: ownership, automated access and AI outputs
Clio's Terms of Service are clear on ownership and specific on how data can leave:
- Ownership. “As between Themis and the Subscriber, any Content remains the property of the Subscriber” (3.7). Themis Solutions is Clio's company name (source: Clio Terms of Service (3.7, 3.8, 8.2, 10.7, 14.3, 17.3)).
- Automated access. Access “via automated means” is “strictly prohibited except insofar as the Service includes features which are designed for such use” (3.8) (source: Clio Terms of Service (3.7, 3.8, 8.2, 10.7, 14.3, 17.3)). Clio's own export features and API are the route; a buyer's crawler is not.
- AI outputs. Subscribers will not use the AI Services or Outputs “in or to train or develop any artificial intelligence or machine learning model, system, product or service” (14.3) (source: Clio Terms of Service (3.7, 3.8, 8.2, 10.7, 14.3, 17.3)). Leave out anything drafted or summarized by Clio's AI features.
- Clio-supplied Materials. The same training ban applies to Materials Clio supplies (17.3(c)) (source: Clio Terms of Service (3.7, 3.8, 8.2, 10.7, 14.3, 17.3)), so any forms or content Clio provided stay out.
- Exit window. “Subscriber shall have ninety days to retrieve any and all Content” after cancellation (8.2), and Content is irrevocably deleted no less than 90 days after (10.7) (source: Clio Terms of Service (3.7, 3.8, 8.2, 10.7, 14.3, 17.3)).
What to export from Clio for a license: document templates the firm wrote, and the structure of your workflow and task templates. Not matters, contacts, communications, bills, trust records or anything from intake.
MyCase export data: 8am's terms on ownership, export services and AI
MyCase is now part of 8am, and its terms cover the whole 8am platform. Part I says “You own all title, interest, and intellectual property rights worldwide in and to the Customer Content” (s.15). The same section gives 8am “a perpetual, irrevocable license to use aggregated and anonymized versions of the Customer Content”, excluding personal information, for internal use to improve its platform (source: 8am Terms of Service, Parts I and III (updated Aug 2026)). That right is non-exclusive, but it means you can't promise a buyer that no one else holds any derived version of your data.
- No scraping. Customers may not use “any robot, spider, or other automated device, process, or means” to access, retrieve or scrape the platform (Part I s.12) (source: 8am Terms of Service, Parts I and III (updated Aug 2026)).
- Paid export. 8am offers data export services as an add-on for a separate fee, with scope set in the order (Part III s.3) (source: 8am Terms of Service, Parts I and III (updated Aug 2026)).
- 8am IQ. Users may not use IQ content or anything derived from 8am IQ “to directly or indirectly create, train, test, or otherwise improve any machine learning algorithms or artificial intelligence systems” (Part III s.1.A). 8am also says it does not use Customer Content or IQ content to train generative AI models (source: 8am Terms of Service, Parts I and III (updated Aug 2026)).
- The MCP connector. The beta connector to Claude may carry case records, privileged communications and work product into the firm's Claude environment, and 8am requires a Claude plan that excludes data from model training (Part III s.8) (source: 8am Terms of Service, Parts I and III (updated Aug 2026)). It is a working tool, never an export route for licensing.
- Termination. On termination 8am may delete the account, “including all associated Customer Content” (Part I s.13) (source: 8am Terms of Service, Parts I and III (updated Aug 2026)). Export first.
Smokeball data export: ownership, the automation ban and a 30-day window
Smokeball's terms (last updated July 9, 2026) say “You retain all rights of ownership of all data You upload, import, or generate” (s.18), and that Smokeball may use aggregated usage data, which is not client data, for research, development and benchmarking (s.19) (source: Smokeball Terms (s.1, s.2, s.14, s.15, s.18, s.19, updated Jul 9, 2026)).
The export limits are tight. Section 2 prohibits access by any automated means “not provided or authorized by Smokeball,” including “any form of automation for data access, extraction, or migration.” After the term ends you get 30 days of access “for the sole purpose of permitting You to retrieve Your data,” a Data Backup on request (documents and basic matter and contact card data), and Smokeball may delete the account and data after 30 days (s.14, s.15) (source: Smokeball Terms (s.1, s.2, s.14, s.15, s.18, s.19, updated Jul 9, 2026)).
Smokeball's own Forms, including documents produced by its AI features, are part of the subscription you agree not to copy or exploit (s.1, s.2, s.24) (source: Smokeball Terms (s.1, s.2, s.14, s.15, s.18, s.19, updated Jul 9, 2026)). Our guide to law firm SOPs, templates and procedures manuals explains how to keep vendor forms out of a firm-owned set.
PracticePanther export: 90 days, on written request
PracticePanther's User Agreement (updated June 22, 2023) reserves ownership of the service to Panther Software “except for User & Client Data” (section 11) and says Panther Software will never use that data except to provide the service and as the agreement or privacy policy allows (10(c)). It may publish aggregate, anonymized reports on system usage and trends (11(a)) (source: PracticePanther User Agreement (7, 10, 11, 16, updated Jun 22, 2023)).
After termination, Panther Software will provide a file of the data “if you so request in writing within ninety (90) days of termination,” and may delete it on the 91st day (16(c)). The agreement also bars commercially exploiting or making the service available to third parties (7(a)) (source: PracticePanther User Agreement (7, 10, 11, 16, updated Jun 22, 2023)). We found no clause on AI training in the agreement. Request your export in writing before you cancel.
NetDocuments and iManage export: document management systems
Document management systems hold the firm's template and knowledge folders, which makes them the most likely home of firm-owned material and also the place it is most mixed with client documents.
NetDocuments
- Ownership. NetDocuments “disclaims ownership of Intellectual Property rights in Customer Repository Data” and takes a limited license to store and process it to provide the service (source: NetDocuments SaaS Agreement (page updated Jun 16, 2026)).
- Bulk export. The customer must remove its data before the end of the term or any transition period, using mass export tools NetDocuments makes available to download free of charge. A transition period of up to 6 months is available if the customer is current and prepays (source: NetDocuments SaaS Agreement (page updated Jun 16, 2026)).
- Deletion. If data remains 30 days after the agreement ends, including any transition period, NetDocuments may delete it or, on request, charge for continued storage (source: NetDocuments SaaS Agreement (page updated Jun 16, 2026)).
- AI restrictions. The agreement bars bots, crawlers and scrapers, and bars extracting data from the service to develop or train a system that would replicate or compete with it (source: NetDocuments SaaS Agreement (page updated Jun 16, 2026)). Use the export tools, not a buyer's connector.
iManage
iManage's public Terms of Service, last updated July 16, 2025, say that iManage customers are governed by the Cloud Services Agreement, and those public terms apply only to non-customers (source: iManage Terms of Service (last updated Jul 16, 2025)). The Cloud Services Agreement isn't published. Ask for your signed copy and read its data return and termination sections. The public terms also bar access other than through supported interfaces, such as scraping (source: iManage Terms of Service (last updated Jul 16, 2025)), which is a fair signal of what the customer agreement expects.
How to export firm-owned material from law practice software
- Review first, export second. Decide which templates, workflow designs and knowledge folders are firm-owned before you touch an export tool. Our guide to firm-owned templates and SOPs sets out the tests.
- Use the vendor's own route. Clio's export features, 8am's export service, Smokeball's backup, PracticePanther's written request, NetDocuments' export tools. No scripts, crawlers or third-party connectors.
- Pull folders, not systems. Export the template library and the reviewed knowledge folders. Leave matters, contacts, communications, calendars, billing and trust data where they are.
- Leave out vendor content and AI outputs. Clio-supplied Materials, Smokeball Forms, anything generated by Clio's AI features or 8am IQ.
- Read the final set and approve it in writing. Keep a copy of exactly what went out.
- Mind the clock. If you are retiring or closing, export before you cancel. 8am may delete at termination, the other windows above run from 30 to 90 days, and some depend on a written request. See selling a law practice: Rule 1.17 and firm-owned material for the order of operations around a sale.
Once you know what a clean, firm-owned set looks like, see what your firm's templates and procedures could qualify for. Our data value checker shows which factors move price, and the buyer directory lists the programs and their published terms.
How Regulr is paid, and how we write these pages
Regulr is a sell-side advisor. When a business we introduce signs a license, we may be paid a fee by the buyer or through a program's referral terms. We list every program we can verify whether or not it pays us, order is never set by fees, and every figure is the company's own advertised term with a link to where it says so. Regulr has not closed a data deal yet, so nothing here describes our results.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns law firm data in Clio?
Clio's Terms of Service say that, as between Clio and the subscriber, any Content remains the property of the subscriber (section 3.7). After cancellation the subscriber has ninety days to retrieve its Content (8.2), and Content is irrevocably deleted no less than 90 days after cancellation (10.7). Owning the data in Clio doesn't change what the professional rules allow a firm to do with client information in it.
How do I export data from Clio?
Use Clio's own export features. Section 3.8 of Clio's terms prohibits access by automated means except where the service includes features designed for that use, so scripts and outside crawlers are out. For licensing, export only the firm-owned layer, such as document templates and workflow settings, not matters, contacts or bills.
How do I export data from MyCase?
8am, which runs MyCase, offers data export services as a paid add-on, with scope set in your order (Part III, section 3 of its terms). Its terms also ban robots, spiders and scraping (Part I, section 12). Anything pulled through 8am IQ may not be used to create, train or improve any AI system, so don't route an export through it.
How do I bulk export from NetDocuments?
NetDocuments' SaaS Agreement says the customer must remove its repository data before the end of the term or any transition period, using mass export tools NetDocuments makes available for download free of charge. Data still on its network 30 days after the end may be deleted or kept for a storage fee. For licensing, export the template or knowledge folders you've reviewed, not the matter workspaces.
Does Smokeball allow data export?
Smokeball's terms say you retain ownership of the data you put in (s.18), give 30 days of access after the term ends to retrieve it, and provide a Data Backup of documents and basic matter and contact card data on request (s.15). They also prohibit any automation for data access, extraction or migration that Smokeball hasn't provided or authorized (s.2). Use Smokeball's own export routes.
Can a law firm export all its practice-management data to an AI buyer?
No. Practice-management and document systems are built around matters, so nearly everything in them is information relating to a representation under Rule 1.6, and intake and lead records are protected under Rule 1.18. A whole-system export or a buyer's connector can't be filtered well enough to keep that out. Only a reviewed set of firm-owned material, exported item by item, belongs in a license.
Does Clio or MyCase train AI on my firm's data?
8am's terms say it does not use Customer Content or 8am IQ content to train or fine-tune any large language model or other generative AI model, but it keeps a perpetual license to aggregated, anonymized Customer Content, excluding personal information, for internal use to improve its platform. Clio's terms restrict how customers use its AI outputs; check Clio's AI terms and privacy materials for how it handles your content.
What happens to my iManage data if we leave?
iManage's public terms say that customers are governed by the iManage Cloud Services Agreement, which is not published. Ask iManage or your administrator for your signed copy and read the termination and data return sections before planning any export.
Sources
Vendor terms were read on each vendor's own page on October 18, 2026; Clio's and the ABA's pages were read in a browser because they block automated fetching. ABA Rules 1.6 and 1.18 and Opinion 480 were read in full on October 15 and 18, 2026. Program terms were checked October 15, 2026; our buyer directory lists the programs and links to those terms.
- Clio Terms of Service (3.7, 3.8, 8.2, 10.7, 14.3, 17.3)
- 8am Terms of Service, Parts I and III (updated Aug 2026)
- Smokeball Terms (s.1, s.2, s.14, s.15, s.18, s.19, updated Jul 9, 2026)
- PracticePanther User Agreement (7, 10, 11, 16, updated Jun 22, 2023)
- NetDocuments SaaS Agreement (page updated Jun 16, 2026)
- iManage Terms of Service (last updated Jul 16, 2025)
- ABA Model Rule 1.6
- ABA Model Rule 1.18
- ABA Formal Opinion 480 (Mar 6, 2018)
- program terms, Regulr buyer directory
Brian Boesen · Founder, Regulr AI
Brian runs Regulr AI, which works for established businesses that want to license de-identified records to AI companies. He checks each program's published terms against its own pages and updates these guides when they change. Last updated October 18, 2026.
This page is general information, not legal advice, and Regulr is not a law firm. Rules vary by state, by profession and by contract, and they apply to your facts, not to a category. You approve exactly what is in scope before anything is shared.
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