n8n Workflow: Clio Dormant Matter & Renewal Email Reminders

Never miss a Clio dormancy or renewal deadline—automatically

This n8n workflow identifies dormant matters from Clio and upcoming/overdue renewal dates from a Google Sheets “Renewal Dates” ledger, then sends targeted reminder emails to the responsible attorneys. Each notification is also logged via a separate compliance/audit workflow for traceable internal accountability.

What this workflow does

• Dormant matter checks (daily at 8am): pulls all Open matters from the Clio API, evaluates each matter’s `last updated` date against a configurable dormancy threshold, and deduplicates repeat alerts using n8n workflow static data.
• Notification + compliance logging: generates a dormant-matter email, calls a separate compliance/audit workflow to log the message details, and emails the responsible attorney.
• Renewal reminders (daily at 8am): reads rows from the Google Sheets “Renewal Dates” sheet, calculates days remaining to each `renewal_date`, and keeps only items within the reminder window (or overdue).
• Deduplication + escalation fallback: deduplicates non-overdue reminders using workflow static data and emails the assigned attorney, or uses a firm fallback email address when needed.
• Unified reminder logging: renewal reminder emails are also logged through the same compliance/audit workflow.

Use cases

• Legal ops teams monitoring Clio matters to proactively flag dormant files.
• Firms automating renewal reminders based on a maintained Google Sheets ledger.
• Compliance-minded organizations that require every internal reminder to be audited via a dedicated workflow.
• n8n builders who want reliable daily scheduling, deduplication, and email delivery in one pipeline.

Technical details

• Integrations: Clio API (OAuth2), Google Sheets, SMTP/Email sending.
• n8n nodes/logic: code, filter, split out, HTTP request, email send, plus supporting elements (e.g., sticky note documentation).
• Required setup: set CLIO_BASE_URL, provide Clio read access for matters; configure RENEWAL_DATES_SHEET_ID and ensure columns such as matter_ref, client_name, description, renewal_date, and attorney_email; set FIRM_FROM_EMAIL (and optionally firm fallback email).