n8n Workflow: Extract Legal Time from Email PDFs to LEDES

Extract legal time from email PDF/Word bills and auto-generate LEDES deliverables

This n8n workflow automatically monitors an IMAP inbox for new emails with PDF/Word attachments, extracts legal time entries using OpenAI, and generates LEDES 1998B, LEDES XML 2.0, and a PDF invoice—then logs everything in Google Sheets and emails the finished files back via Gmail.

What this workflow does

• IMAP trigger: Watches for new unread emails, downloads the first attachment, and proceeds only when an attachment is detected.
• Attachment text extraction: Detects whether the attachment is a PDF or Word document and extracts its text accordingly.
• OpenAI-powered extraction: Uses OpenAI to extract structured time entries plus summary metadata from the document text.
• Email remittance capture: Uses OpenAI to extract the sender’s remittance details from the email content, then merges those details with the extracted time-entry data.
• Invoice numbering: Reads existing invoice numbers from Google Sheets, calculates the next invoice number, and attaches it to the invoice output.
• LEDES generation + PDF creation: Builds LEDES 1998B text, LEDES XML 2.0, and an invoice HTML. Converts the HTML to a PDF using a Gotenberg-compatible HTTP endpoint.
• Logging + delivery: Appends LEDES-style line items and the new invoice number to Google Sheets, then sends an HTML email with the PDF, LEDES TXT, and LEDES XML files attached via Gmail.

Use cases

• Automation engineers streamlining legal billing intake from vendor emails.
• SaaS operators standardizing LEDES output for timekeepers’ PDF/Word submissions.
• Teams reducing manual rekeying of legal time entries into LEDES 1998B / XML 2.0.

Technical details

• n8n nodes / tools: if, code, gmail, merge, sticky note, http request
• Integrations: IMAP email trigger, OpenAI (for time + remittance extraction), Google Sheets (invoice numbers + logging), Gotenberg-compatible HTML-to-PDF endpoint, Gmail (returning generated files).