Clara
Draft, rewrite, search, and review legal work with approval-gated AI.
Clara is Ardela's in-product legal agent. It works with the recordings, transcripts, notes, documents, matter context, and Pillar extracts that you are permitted to access.
Clara conversations are private to you. Documents, reviews, and forms it prepares stay private until you share them with a Matter. Clara proposes work for review. It does not silently overwrite a note or document, and a user must approve a proposed change before it is applied.
Where to find Clara
| Location | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Clara in the sidebar | Start a new thread, search permitted workspace content, draft, summarise, and use skills |
| Matter Overview | Ask about the open matter, with Matter Memory and that file's sources |
| Split view | Work with the recording, matter, document, review, or Pillar already open |
| Text selection menu | Request a focused rewrite or formatting change |
Opening Clara from a matter keeps new work in that matter's context. Changing context later keeps the private conversation, but new source reads follow the context you are in now.
How Clara works
- Open Clara in the part of Ardela where you are working.
- Ask a specific question or describe the draft or change you need.
- Review the response, its source references where provided, and any proposed edit.
- Accept or reject each proposed change.
- If the result should sit on the file, share or save it to the matter.
Rejected changes are not applied. Accepted changes become part of the working draft and remain subject to normal legal and supervisory review.
Private drafts and sharing
| Work | Visibility |
|---|---|
| Clara conversation | Private to you |
| Document, review, or form created in Clara | Draft · Only you until you share it |
| Note written to a matter | Shared on the matter timeline immediately |
| Matter Pillar | Shared with the matter from creation |
Use Share to matter or Save to matter on the saved draft when the team should see it. Sharing publishes that saved version. It does not share the conversation, earlier private revisions, or supporting files you did not publish. Sharing is not approval.
What Clara can help with
- Find and summarise permitted recordings and files.
- Draft text from a transcript or matter context.
- Rewrite, shorten, or restructure selected text.
- Capture an explicit fact or instruction in Matter Memory.
- Run repeatable instructions with skills.
- Start a document review against a playbook on Pro and Enterprise.
- Answer questions from a Pillar with citations to the source material.
- Prepare a form on a matter.
Sources and permissions
Clara can only use workspace content allowed by your role, permissions, and Matter access. A group can route queue work, but group membership alone does not grant access to a recording or matter.
When Clara provides a citation, open it and check the source before relying on the answer. If a response is not supported by the available material, ask Clara to identify the gap rather than infer a fact.
Read-only members can open their own retained conversations and authorised saved work. They cannot start new Clara work.
Responsible use
Clara's output is a draft, not legal advice. The responsible fee-earner must check the law, evidence, privilege, confidentiality, dates, figures, and final wording before the work is used or shared.