Clio is Coming!

Clio is coming. 

Ok.  It’s been here, but we will have a live rep at our annual meeting next week.  Come and meet her. She’s fabulous!

What is Clio?  You may already know that they are one of our many affinity partners who offer a discount for VBA members.  But we are still being asked what IS Clio?

On Clio’s website, they have an unassuming, literal slogan.  “Clio helps lawyers build a better practice.” From what we’ve seen from Clio and what we’ve heard from users, this is absolutely true.

Clio has grown quite quickly to become the most widely used practice management software in the world.  They have 150,000 users all over the world.  They strive to be and claim to be the most comprehensive, easy-to-use, cloud-based law practice management software available. 

Studies have shown that law practice management software, generally, allows firms to have 40% less support staff and consistently more revenue per attorney.  Law Practice management includes things like: case or matter management, document management, centralized collaboration, time and billing software, scheduling, conflict check ability and remote access.  A recent survey of Clio users found that Clio saves lawyers an average of 1-2 hours per day! How does it save time?  Clio will reduce time spent billing and tracking time, hunting for files or finding information and preparing duplicative documentation.  It increases productivity and reduces outstanding invoices.

To see more, Clio invites you to watch their demo video: Meet Clio: The Easiest Way to Manage Your Firm.   Matters and billing can be seen all in one screen.  Template documents can be auto-filled with each client’s information.  Clio will track time and generate time and billing reports and trust ledgers.  The #newclio release ensures seamless integration with Outlook 365 (For tracking and sorting time and content from emails) and LawPay (for receipt of payments 35% faster than checks). 

By now you may be thinking, ‘Clio Clio Clio,’ why all this Clio, why now?  One reason is that folks from the VBA just attended the Clio conference with 1,200 of our closest friends.  The conference and presentations were well-designed, thoughtful, inspiring and fun.  Their employee policy ensures a devoted and energetic staff.   The second reason is the unveiling of their 2017 Legal Trends Report resulting from data and 60,000 user responses which found, among other things, that lawyers only produce 2.3 hours of billable work a day on average! Over half of most attorneys’ time is spent on administrative matters.

Finally, Clio has a sharp focus on the “flywheel” business model based upon consumer demand which has made service disruptors like Uber, Airbnb and Amazon so successful.  Clients, as consumers, just want an effortless experience.  Law firms need to learn to be obsessively client-focused.  In that vein, Clio offers full integration with over 70 integration partners and also has unveiled a new API that allows anyone to build tools and products to add on to Clio.  All of these applications work toward improving client satisfaction, which generates the flywheel’s perpetual power.

Some of the applications that integrate with Clio include: Apptoto (automated appointment and hearing reminders for clients via SMS, voice or emails using Clio’s calendar); zipwhip (sends and receives text messages to clients from firm’s existing business phone number); TrustBooks (offers triple reconciliation and makes IOLTA accounting simple); Vijilent (creates data portraits using AI to compile social media data on anyone); Trustifi (provides encryption and secure delivery and tracking of email);  Logikcull (automates eDiscovery and data management in litigation); Tali (a voice-driven, AI powered time tracker) to name a few.  And currently in the works, Clio is developing a communication module like a WhatsApp for lawyers.  Not familiar with WhatsApp?  Ask your world-traveling niece or nephew!

As one Vermont user put it: “I’d safely say that we have increased our productivity by one-third since we started using Clio.  And my income is up 20% now as a solo from what it was with two other lawyers.”  And “There is nothing else on the market with the power and depth of Clio. It comes close to committing malpractice if you are not using it, since, ethically, we should be using many of its features, but I don’t know of any other platform that does it all in one package.”

With so many ways to increase productivity, Clio allows lawyers to achieve a better work-life balance. 

It’s a great time to be a lawyer!