n8n Kickoff Automation: Google Drive, Clio & Email

Kick off new legal matters automatically—Google Drive folders, a Calendly kickoff email, Clio follow-up tasks, and weekly onboarding reporting

This n8n workflow springs into action the moment a client is marked as signed. It creates a structured Google Drive matter folder, sends a compliance-checked kickoff email with your Calendly link, sets up Clio onboarding tasks, and logs everything to Google Sheets—then runs every Monday to email an internal onboarding summary.

What this workflow does

• Receives a POST webhook (“When Client Signs”): Accepts client and matter fields (including client_name, client_email, matter_id, practice_area, attorney_name, and attorney_email) and normalizes the incoming data.
• Creates Google Drive matter structure: Builds a top-level matter folder, captures the folder ID and URL, then creates standard subfolders under it from a configurable subfolder list. If a Drive step fails, the workflow records the failure without stopping.
• Sends a compliance-guarded kickoff email: Generates a kickoff email that includes your Calendly scheduling link, then routes sending through a compliance guardrail sub-workflow.
• Respects opt-outs: The workflow sends via SMTP only when the guardrail approves it and the client is not opted out.
• Creates Clio onboarding follow-ups: Adds configurable follow-up tasks in Clio with due dates based on day offsets, and logs onboarding details (including Drive folder status) to a Google Sheets master log.
• Runs weekly reporting (Mondays): Reads the Sheets onboarding log, summarizes the last N days (including any Drive folder failures), and emails the internal onboarding summary via SMTP.

Use cases

• Instantly provision new matters in Google Drive when a client signs, with standardized subfolders.
• Send kickoff emails with scheduling links while enforcing a compliance guardrail and honoring opt-outs.
• Automate Clio follow-up task creation and keep a single onboarding source of truth in Google Sheets.
• Get a weekly internal email summarizing new onboardings and any Drive provisioning failures.

Technical details

• Trigger: Webhook (POST) for “When Client Signs”
• Logic: if, code, no op
• Communication: email send via SMTP (guardrail-controlled)
• Workflow components: sticky note (documentation)
• Integrations: Google Drive, Google Sheets, Clio, Calendly (link included in email), SMTP