One of the products to be introduced this week at Legal Tech West Coast is Clio, a Web-based practice management suite designed for solo and smaller-firm lawyers. It is still in beta and pricing is not yet available, but anyone interested can sign up to participate for free in the beta testing of this software as a service. I have not yet tried it. According to an announcement, its features include:
- Time tracking: Track time by client, matter, and task.
- Billing and reporting: Includes integrated tracking for trust funds and retainers and generates customized invoices and outstanding bill reminders.
- Client/contact management: A contact management system that links to information on clients, matters and billings.
- Task scheduling: A calendaring and reminder system that allows tracking of appointments by day, week or month.
- Document management: Securely access documents online and track document versions.
- Trust management: Maintain and track trust transaction records.
- Practice performance metrics: Track current, expected and target billing figures daily, weekly or monthly.
As for security, Clio is said to use password protection with bank-grade 256-bit SSL encryption. Data is backed up daily to a secure, offsite data center, and frequent third-party audits ensure data security.
A core advantage of a SaaS such as this is that it avoids the need to purchase, install and maintain software. Pricing, of course, will be an all-important determinant of its popularity. Clio was developed by Themis Solutions Inc., Vancouver, B.C.
Tags: practice management
4 comments
jjriv · June 30, 2008 at 11:10 pm
While waiting for the official release of Clio, check out Intervals. It includes many of the same features you’ve listed and is an invaluable tool for businesses, such as law firms, who bill for their time.
Clio Turns Two, As Lawyers Ease Into the Cloud · Robert Ambrogi's LawSites · October 1, 2010 at 9:02 am
[...] first wrote about Clio in June 2008, when it came out in beta. When its formal version was released at LegalTech New York in 2009, I [...]
LegalTech Report: Clio Begins Ground-Up Redesign · Robert Ambrogi's LawSites · February 4, 2013 at 7:00 pm
[...] nearly five years ago, Clio was the first of an ever-growing array of cloud-based practice management platforms. At [...]
iOrion Brings Mobile Practice Management to Midsized Firms · Robert Ambrogi's LawSites · February 19, 2013 at 8:58 am
[...] technology, recent years have seen the launch of a bevy of cloud-based platforms. Clio was the first of these, followed by a number of products that include Rocket Matter, MyCase, LexisNexis Firm Manager, and [...]