<b><i>Product Review:</b></i> Clio, Effective SaaS Practice Management For the Small Firm

A small-firm attorney must wear many hats, and I am certainly no exception to that rule. With my partner, Amelia Carolla, I run a small law practice called Reisman Carolla LLP out of Haddonfield, NJ. We specialize in special education litigation work.

As a partner in a small firm, I must divide my time between servicing current clients, finding new ones and running the operational side of my small business. In addition, I have three children, so it is essential for me to be able to work from home and office interchangeably. Another challenge is that my client base requires me to travel frequently, which makes it imperative for me to have access to my client data wherever I am, day or night.

Technology has always been a top priority for me, since it helps me to stay organized and operate efficiently. Everything in my office is done electronically ' I scan all paper to have a completely paperless business.

Help for Mac Users

Though I consider myself among the most tech-savvy of lawyers, I have historically had a very limited selection of legal software to choose from since I'm a Mac user with no plans to switch to a PC. Also, I don't really have the resources or requirement for a server or an IT person, so any products that require intricate installation and configuration are a bit overcomplicated and expensive for my purposes.

Most legal software is PC-based, primarily because the majority of the legal market has been traditionally dominated by PC users. However, the percentage of lawyers using Macs is definitely growing. I belong to a Google Group called Macs in Law Offices (“MILO”), the subscribership of which recently crested to 800 attorneys.

In late June 2008, I first read about Clio on Law.com's Legal Technology Blog in a post entitled “Be a SaaSy Solo with Clio.” Clio is a Web-based law practice management system that has been specifically designed for lawyers like me. And since it is Internet based, all that's required is a browser ' it works equally well on Macs and PCs. In considering an Internet-based product like Clio, the fact that I can access my data securely over any Internet connection is a major plus. It gives me the freedom to work where I choose, be it at the office, at home or even on vacation (if absolutely necessary). That is a huge improvement for me right off the bat!

In August, I became part of Clio's beta group and began to enter some of my data into its system. After only a brief Webinar overview, I felt adequately equipped to start navigating Clio's intuitive system. There was no installation process whatsoever ' I just entered in my login and password and got started.

First, I tested Clio's time tracking and billing module and found it to be pretty easy to use. One of the best features is the trust accounting module, which allows lawyers to keep track of all the trust accounts maintained on their clients' behalf. Trust accounting is one of the trickiest parts of my practice, and the consequence for mismanaging or tracking them poorly can be severe, so I figured it would be a great help to manage them in Clio. Also, I tried out Clio's document and contact management features, so I could store my contacts and files in a central Web-based location.

Naturally, I was concerned about security, since my clients' data is highly sensitive; protecting that information is critically important to my practice. Fortunately, Clio has paid a lot of attention to creating a secure interface, so I was satisfied with their answers to my security concerns. Using Clio's encrypted Web interface is as secure as doing my banking online. Also, they back up all their data on a daily basis and a third-party company runs regular security audits to make sure there are no hackers tampering with the system.

Reasonable and Responsive

While I was testing Clio, I kept in close contact with Jack Newton, President of Themis Solutions Inc., the Vancouver-based company that makes Clio. I made several suggestions to Jack about how to refine and augment the product, and in many cases, he and his development team actually added my suggestions directly into the product. Their technical support was very responsive and I was happily surprised by their willingness to listen to my requests.

Clio is priced at $49 per lawyer per month. Additional licenses for staff members such as assistants and paralegals are $25 per person per month. I consider this to be very reasonable, given the IT services and infrastructure that I don't have to buy and the benefits the system provides.

On Oct. 1, Clio was officially released and I transitioned from being a beta user to being a subscriber. I truly feel that Clio is the perfect solution for me. It allows me to keep all my information in one place, and to access it from any Internet-ready computer, wherever I go. Themis provides fast technical support ' I feel like I'm getting an outsourced IT department plus the functionality and accessibility that I need for one monthly subscription cost.

Now that I've become a subscriber of Clio rather than a beta user, there are several features of Clio that I find to be especially helpful to me in my practice. I use the matter/contact/document management features all the time. They allow me to put in all contact information and documents and access them from anywhere, and they integrate with each other for a more seamless effect. I am beginning to upload documents from all my cases into Clio so I can manage them more efficiently, and I use the version feature as well, which allows me to save unlimited versions of a document.

Also, Clio's computerized time tracking is very important to me. I haven't used paper timesheets in a decade, and I find it inefficient to record my time and then have someone else input it. Clio lets me enter my time electronically and the billing module generates professional-looking invoices.

As mentioned before, the trust accounting feature is very important to me. I am still in the process of inputting the necessary information, but I am looking forward to using this feature.

Lastly, Clio offers practice performance metrics, through which I can get a visual idea of how my business is performing relative to my monthly and annual goals. Solo and small firm owners often neglect the financial side of their businesses, so I like that I can get a read on how my finances are doing by running reports in Clio.

Overall, Clio allows me to wear all of my hats more easily, so I can spend more time on substantive work and operate my busy practice from home or the road as needed. I would recommend Clio to any solo practitioner or small firm attorney looking to be better organized, more efficient and more effective at running a legal practice. Solos, small firms and Mac users, having long been underserved by the legal technology market, now have Clio as a viable alternative to consider.

A small-firm attorney must wear many hats, and I am certainly no exception to that rule. With my partner, Amelia Carolla, I run a small law practice called Reisman Carolla LLP out of Haddonfield, NJ. We specialize in special education litigation work.

As a partner in a small firm, I must divide my time between servicing current clients, finding new ones and running the operational side of my small business. In addition, I have three children, so it is essential for me to be able to work from home and office interchangeably. Another challenge is that my client base requires me to travel frequently, which makes it imperative for me to have access to my client data wherever I am, day or night.

Technology has always been a top priority for me, since it helps me to stay organized and operate efficiently. Everything in my office is done electronically ' I scan all paper to have a completely paperless business.

Help for Mac Users

Though I consider myself among the most tech-savvy of lawyers, I have historically had a very limited selection of legal software to choose from since I'm a Mac user with no plans to switch to a PC. Also, I don't really have the resources or requirement for a server or an IT person, so any products that require intricate installation and configuration are a bit overcomplicated and expensive for my purposes.

Most legal software is PC-based, primarily because the majority of the legal market has been traditionally dominated by PC users. However, the percentage of lawyers using Macs is definitely growing. I belong to a Google Group called Macs in Law Offices (“MILO”), the subscribership of which recently crested to 800 attorneys.

In late June 2008, I first read about Clio on Law.com's Legal Technology Blog in a post entitled “Be a SaaSy Solo with Clio.” Clio is a Web-based law practice management system that has been specifically designed for lawyers like me. And since it is Internet based, all that's required is a browser ' it works equally well on Macs and PCs. In considering an Internet-based product like Clio, the fact that I can access my data securely over any Internet connection is a major plus. It gives me the freedom to work where I choose, be it at the office, at home or even on vacation (if absolutely necessary). That is a huge improvement for me right off the bat!

In August, I became part of Clio's beta group and began to enter some of my data into its system. After only a brief Webinar overview, I felt adequately equipped to start navigating Clio's intuitive system. There was no installation process whatsoever ' I just entered in my login and password and got started.

First, I tested Clio's time tracking and billing module and found it to be pretty easy to use. One of the best features is the trust accounting module, which allows lawyers to keep track of all the trust accounts maintained on their clients' behalf. Trust accounting is one of the trickiest parts of my practice, and the consequence for mismanaging or tracking them poorly can be severe, so I figured it would be a great help to manage them in Clio. Also, I tried out Clio's document and contact management features, so I could store my contacts and files in a central Web-based location.

Naturally, I was concerned about security, since my clients' data is highly sensitive; protecting that information is critically important to my practice. Fortunately, Clio has paid a lot of attention to creating a secure interface, so I was satisfied with their answers to my security concerns. Using Clio's encrypted Web interface is as secure as doing my banking online. Also, they back up all their data on a daily basis and a third-party company runs regular security audits to make sure there are no hackers tampering with the system.

Reasonable and Responsive

While I was testing Clio, I kept in close contact with Jack Newton, President of Themis Solutions Inc., the Vancouver-based company that makes Clio. I made several suggestions to Jack about how to refine and augment the product, and in many cases, he and his development team actually added my suggestions directly into the product. Their technical support was very responsive and I was happily surprised by their willingness to listen to my requests.

Clio is priced at $49 per lawyer per month. Additional licenses for staff members such as assistants and paralegals are $25 per person per month. I consider this to be very reasonable, given the IT services and infrastructure that I don't have to buy and the benefits the system provides.

On Oct. 1, Clio was officially released and I transitioned from being a beta user to being a subscriber. I truly feel that Clio is the perfect solution for me. It allows me to keep all my information in one place, and to access it from any Internet-ready computer, wherever I go. Themis provides fast technical support ' I feel like I'm getting an outsourced IT department plus the functionality and accessibility that I need for one monthly subscription cost.

Now that I've become a subscriber of Clio rather than a beta user, there are several features of Clio that I find to be especially helpful to me in my practice. I use the matter/contact/document management features all the time. They allow me to put in all contact information and documents and access them from anywhere, and they integrate with each other for a more seamless effect. I am beginning to upload documents from all my cases into Clio so I can manage them more efficiently, and I use the version feature as well, which allows me to save unlimited versions of a document.

Also, Clio's computerized time tracking is very important to me. I haven't used paper timesheets in a decade, and I find it inefficient to record my time and then have someone else input it. Clio lets me enter my time electronically and the billing module generates professional-looking invoices.

As mentioned before, the trust accounting feature is very important to me. I am still in the process of inputting the necessary information, but I am looking forward to using this feature.

Lastly, Clio offers practice performance metrics, through which I can get a visual idea of how my business is performing relative to my monthly and annual goals. Solo and small firm owners often neglect the financial side of their businesses, so I like that I can get a read on how my finances are doing by running reports in Clio.

Overall, Clio allows me to wear all of my hats more easily, so I can spend more time on substantive work and operate my busy practice from home or the road as needed. I would recommend Clio to any solo practitioner or small firm attorney looking to be better organized, more efficient and more effective at running a legal practice. Solos, small firms and Mac users, having long been underserved by the legal technology market, now have Clio as a viable alternative to consider.