Clio

Score7.8 out of 10

94 Reviews and Ratings

What is Clio?

Clio is web-based legal practice management software for solo practitioners and small firms. It is designed to replace multiple different systems (like document management, case management, and accounting software) to streamline the amount of technology that small firms need to manage.

Categories & Use Cases

Verified User

Employee in Legal (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

At our law firm, we use Clio Manage and Clio Grow to streamline daily operations, improve client communication, and ensure efficient case management from intake to resolution. Just like any business or law firm, data security is critical. I think Clio provides secure cloud-based access with role-based permissions and is compliant with legal industry standards.

Pros

Client Communication.
Reporting and Metrics.
Document Automation.

Cons

No conditional logic in task assignments.
Basic notification system with limited real-time updates.

Return on Investment

Faster Client Intake & Onboarding.
Improved cash flow.
Higher Staff Productivity.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

MyCase and Assembly Neos

Verified User

Paraprofessional in Legal (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

My law office uses Clio as our CRM, matter and lead management, accounts receivable, and as an email marketing tool.

Pros

Matter management
CRM
Billing and accounts receivable

Cons

Lead organization in Clio Grow should not be separate from Clio Manage. These two should be integrated for better organization and management.
Trust payments in billing

Return on Investment

Less time spent on reviewing billing each month
I can easily search tag contacts
Simple task tracking across the entire firm

Usability

Alternatives Considered

CARET Legal

Other Software Used

Lexis for Microsoft Office, WealthCounsel Estate Planning

Richard Hackerd View profile

attorney in Legal at RE Hackerd (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

In my opinion, ridiculous.

After an hour with support today their solution is to stop using my iphone for calendar and contact integration. I'm told this is the leading product in the segment. I recommend returning to paper and pencil.

Pros

reasonable visuals
good if useless support

Cons

In my opinion, clumsy
In my opinion, convoluted
In my experience, fails to integrate

Return on Investment

I've spent five hours with support this week.

Usability

Michael Delaney View profile

Senior Partner at DDV Law, Ltd. (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Clio is a practice management solution for law firms. In my opinion it has sufficient features and scalability to serve as the basis for anything from a solo practitioner to a mid-large firm.

Pros

Clio has an extensive API that allows for very robust customization. If you are looking for a practice management solution that can be adapted to your practice, Clio is very adaptable, and their developer partnership program is very good.
Clio's billing and payment systems are well executed. It is very easy to ensure that bills get paid and retainers get replenished.
Clio has an extensive documentation database and good support.
I have not noticed any significant bugs in their system. Everything functions as expected without any significant outages.
Clio's security features and systems are well thought out executed.
Clio's user interface is intuitive and easy to use.
It is easy to find expert setup and customization assistance.
There are multiple existing 3rd party integrations to choose from.

Cons

Clio's trust account management system does not allow for sub accounts. For instance, if your firm wished to separately account for your general retainer and a settlement check as being separate sub accounts held in the main trust account for that matter, Clio does not have a way to do that.
Clio does not allow a "User" custom field. If you wished to be able to assign a team of users to particular types of files, there is no way to do this. For instance, if you wanted to add a custom field for "Billing Manager" to denote which of your multiple billing clerks was assigned to that file, there is no way to do this.
Clio does not allow you to create custom fields that are "lists" or "collections". For instance, if you wanted to add a custom field called "heirs" that was a list of contacts, there is no way to do this, other than to add in a series of single contact custom fields. (Heir1, Heir2, Heir3, Heir4).
Clio Grow, the Clio CRM pipeline tool, has a online intake tool, does not have an API to allow customization like Clio Manage does.
Although clio does have a document template generation module, the lack of any ability to handle lists or collections of items limits its functionality.

Most Important Features

Clio's billing and trust functions are very reliable.

Return on Investment

Our initial transition to Clio was difficult. However, as we adapt our practice to Clio's capabilities, we have come to appreciate Clio's reliability and easy of use.

Other Software Used

Visual Studio IDE, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, LastPass for Business, Adobe Acrobat DC, Atlassian Jira Align, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Workspace, ComponentOne

Joe Bearden

Attorney in Professional Services at Bearden Law (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We attempted to use Clio in all cases, but it is missing basic features, such as feasible calendar features, appointment notification, useable client note capabilities. We ended up returning to Google Docs for most uses, because the free software absolutely trounces the supposedly specially designed software for the legal profession. I can't get support to contact me back, and the basic features I suggest to make the software useable for a small firm are not a priority. Basic Google products: Drive, Calendar, gmail, are free and beat Clio with a stick.

Pros

Document Merge
Big Promises
Simple processes become complex

Cons

Basic calendar notification customization
Multiple client calendar event support
Return contact from account manager within a reasonable timeframe
Flexibility for small practices
Honest sales promises about the limitations of the software
Client file basic note documents: I can either put every note in a different document (useless since I'll have to open every one to read the case history) or I can use a "note" which inexplicably opens over like 1/6th of the screen. It's like trying to do a survey through a periscope.
Use google drive instead. It's free and it's so much better.

Most Important Features

Doc merge (use MS Word instead)

Return on Investment

We wasted a ton of time transitioning only to find promised features did not work
We wasted a ton of time trying to get Clio to help us figure out how to at least hack their program to make it work for us
We're still wasting time trying to get some kluge of Clio and other software to do all of the basic functions that should obviously be covered.