I’m starting to wonder whether Clio and Rocket Matter are engaged in high-tech corporate espionage. In January, within days of each other, both companies added document assembly to their cloud-based practice management applications. (See my earlier posts here and here.) Now, again within days of each other, both companies announced that they have launched an application programming interface (API) that will allow third-party application developers to integrate directly with their platforms.

Clio’s announcement will be released tomorrow morning, just a day before the start of ABA Techshow in Chicago. It calls its API the Clio Platform and it will allow third-party developers to securely access data and actions within Clio. It uses OAuth 2.0 for secure authentication, which allows secure access between applications without having to share credentials.

Rocket Matter’s announcement was made Friday and it calls its API RMAPI. It uses JavaScript Object Notation, or JSON, for data exchange and Microsoft’s ASP.NET forms-based authentication.

Both companies also announced initial third-party applications that will integrate with their platforms. Clio said that both Zencash, a receivables management application, and DirectLaw, a virtual lawyering platform, will be integrated immediately. Chrometa, a time-tracking application, will be integrated in April. “We’ll have lots of other exciting partners launching tools built on top of the Clio platform,” Jack Newton, Clio’s founder and CEO, said in an email.

Rocket Matter is launching is API with Chrometa already integrated, its announcement said. Chrometa and Rocket Matter will be demonstrating the integration at Techshow this week.

“Rocket Matter is no longer just a product: it’s a platform for other software companies to create amazing products for lawyers,” said Larry Port, CEO of Rocket Matter. “We wanted our first API integration to be with an incredibly useful, amazing product and forward-thinking company, and found this partner in Chrometa.”

Meanwhile, Jack Newton said his company is excited about the launch of its API. “We’re tremendously excited to announce the Clio Platform, and are thrilled to see the integrations and extensions developers are building using the Clio API. Clio’s users will benefit through a broad range of integrations and add-ons being built for Clio by a broad range of partners.”

If you are attending Techshow, both companies are exhibiting there, so check out their new APIs.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.