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At LegalTech New York we announced Clio Connect, a new addition to Clio’s suite of practice management tools that facilitates online client collaboration and receiving online bill payments via Clio’s sercure web interface.

The response over week since the conference wrapped up has been phenomenal - the following is a sampling of coverage from across the web:

At LegalTech New York, Bob Ambrogi, a prominent blogger and legal industry analyst, heard about Clio Connect and subsequently picked Clio as one of his Top Ten Tech Stars of LegalTech New York! You can see the interview with Jack Newton, Clio’s co-founder and CEO, along with the rest of the Top Ten Tech Star honorees, here.

Over at the HomeOfficeEnvy blog, Long Duong called Clio Connect a “game-changer” in the web-based practice management space:

Clio Connect is a monumental announcement for Basecamp lovers who are looking for a comprehensive solution. The bill paying component sounds like a formidable challenge to Freshbooks as well.

Mazyar Hedyat, author of the PM Blog, summarizes Clio Connect nicely:

Clio Connect very nearly solves the universal problems that plague asynchronous multi-party communication. In other words, with Clio Connect there are no more e-mail roadblocks, mixed signals, or convoluted conversation-threads in the way of attorney-client communication. As a result lawyers can now make files of any kind, as well as time-sheets, notes, and case details available in seconds just by  recording them in Clio or uploading them to Clio’s super-fast collaboration-servers.

For those lawyers still on the fence, the advent of Clio Connect makes it hard to justify not trying Clio’s 30-day free trial.

John Harding, author of the Family Lawyer Tech & Practice blog, thinks Clio Connect might be a final nail in the coffin of his aging Amicus Attorney install:

I am continuing with great interest to follow the evolution of the Clio web-based practice management application. More specifically, I am desperately looking for a replacement for Amicus Attorney, that means Clio gets my attention. Now I get more news that Clio may make my eventual choice. They have announced Clio Connect, which is a secure web-based client portal, allowing Clio users to share information and collaborate with clients through an easy-to-use online interface.

But it doesn’t stop there. Clio Connect also enables online bill-paying for the attorney’s clients. Attorneys simply send their clients a link to an outstanding invoice, and the client can easily pay the invoice via PayPal or other online payment systems.

Sean Doherty of Law.com wrote up Clio in his LegalTech New York 2009 coverage, commenting that features such as Clio Connect are making SaaS “hard to ignore”:

Software as a Service is almost as hard to ignore today as Web 2.0, especially for solo and small firm attorneys looking for a low-cost method of law practice management.

A huge thanks to Bob, Long, Mazyar, John, Sean and all the others that helped generate so much buzz about the Clio Connect launch. We’ve been training Clio users every day on how they can use Clio Connect to communicate more effectively, collaborate more closely, bill quicker, and most importantly, get paid quicker. If you’re not already a Clio user, sign up for your free 30-day trial of Clio and Clio Connect to give it a try.

In a recent New Jersey Law Journal article titled “Law Office and Trust Account Management”, the challenges of trust accounting are summarized succinctly by the author, Christy Burke:

Trust accounting management is very tricky territory for lawyers — and often they get tripped up negotiating its obstacles. Basically, as an attorney managing trust accounts, you are serving as steward of your client’s money. Any improper use or incomplete tracking of those funds can, and most likely will, get you into a lot of trouble.

Penalties for mismanaged trust accounts can include consequences such as damage to the lawyer’s reputation or disciplinary reprimands. On the most serious end of the spectrum, when the mismanagement is deemed intentional and is actually a theft, severe repercussions such as disbarment or jail time could follow, and of course there is always the possibility that the client will sue the attorney for damages.

At Clio we recognize trust accounting is one of the leading causes of malpractice claims, and as such have ensured that Clio integrates a fully functional trust accounting system. As Jeffrey Allen, the technology editor of GP|Solo magazine, observes:

Recently, Allen notes that there has been an influx of Web-based Software-as-a-Service solutions for lawyers, some of which include trust accounting modules and functionality. Given the mobile nature of today’s professionals, Internet-based solutions certainly offer an attractive option for convenience’s sake. Not all products are created equal, though, and there is a wide range of functionality and products to choose from.

One such product is Clio, a Web-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) product created by Vancouver-based Themis Solutions. Clio was introduced on October 1, 2008, specifically targeting the solo and small-firm attorney market. Prior to its release, Allen had suggested to Themis’ founders Jack Newton and Rian Gauvreau that Clio should include a trust accounting module. Themis agreed with Allen and created the module, which was fully intact by the time of their product launch.

It’s great to be mentioned in an article on trust accounting – thanks to Christy for the mention, and to Incisive Media for publishing the article. The full article is available for download here (PDF).

We’re extremely pleased to announce that Bob Ambrogi, a leading legal industry analyst and blogger, has selected Clio as one of his “Ten Tech Stars” at LegalTech New York.

To learn more about each of the Tech Stars, and to view the interview with Clio’s President and Co-founder, Jack Newton, please follow the link here.

The interviews were also broadcast on last week’s edition of Bob’s Lawyer2Lawyer podcast – if you’re not already a listener, we encourage you to start!

We’d like to send out a sincere thank-you to Bob for the honor of being included among such distinguished company, and offer our congratulations to the other Tech Stars.

This post is a continuation on how Twitter has transformed the way we will approach tradeshows.

One of the true thrills of LTNY for us was being able to meet Bob Ambrogi in person. Bob Ambrogi is a blogging pioneer, and has been running his primary blog, LawSites, since 2002. Bob also co-blogs with Carolyn Elefant for Law.com’s Legal Blog Watch and co-hosts the Lawyer2Lawyer podcast with J. Craig Williams.

Having been a blogger for over 6 years, it’s no surprise that Bob was one of the first to pick up on a trend that’s sure to become as big (or even bigger) than blogging: Twitter. Bob has written and spoken extensively on how Twitter can be leveraged by lawyers, including an article on 16 Reasons why Lawyers Should Use Twitter, a Lawyer2Lawyer podcast on Social Media, Twitter and Law Firms. Bob even live-tweeted LTNY’s own What is Twitter and How Can I Use It? panel. You can follow Bob at @bobambrogi.

We’re grateful to Bob for taking the time to take an early peek at Clio, and subsequently blogging about us in June of last year. His post generated a ton of early buzz and truly helped build our roster of early adopters and beta testers.

After meeting Bob in person at LegalTech New York, we were lucky enough to be interviewed for his Lawyer2Lawyer podcast, which recently tied for the top spot in the the ABA Blawg 100 Top Podcasts. We were surprised and thrilled to learn that Bob has selected Clio as one of his LegalTech New York Tech Tech Stars.

Be sure to follow Bob Ambrogi’s blog, podcast, and twitter feed. Bob, nice meeting you in person, and on #LTNY!

This post is a continuation on how Twitter has transformed the way we will approach tradeshows.

Another person that we had the good fortune of connecting with via Twitter was Carolyn Elefant (@carolynelefant). Without Carolyn, the solo and small firm world would be much poorer.

Carolyn‘s blog, MyShingle, is the longest-running blog for and about solos and small firms, covering topics such as how to start a firm, working from home, and maximizing use of technology. Carolyn saw a huge gap in the resources and tools offered to solos and small firms, and created MyShingle around filling that void. Again, in our meeting I felt that Carolyn and I really connected at a level, as Clio was also created with the co-operation of the Law Society of British Columbia with a view to helping solos and small firms manage their clients and matters and, most importantly, avoid malpractice and ethics complaints.

MyShingle just isn’t about helping existing solos and small firms out however – Carolyn actively evangelizes the Solo / Small Firm lifestyle. MyShingle’s companion e-book, Solo By Choice, covers topic such as work-life balance, how to write a business plan, and how to build a forms library.

Carolyn’s blog is currently undergoing a major redesign, and will be relaunched in March. At Clio we truly believe in the value MyShingle delivers to solos and small firms, and will sponsoring Carolyn’s blog to allow her to put even more time into writing. I came away excited about what we can do together, and again, the meeting was the result of just bringing a laptop and a Twitter account to a big convention like LegalTech New York.

Yesterday we talked about how Twitter has transformed the way we will approach tradeshows. Today we’ll go more in-depth about a particular Twitter meetup, and about something we think will truly improve life for solos and small firms.

My meetup with  Susan Cartier Liebel (@SCartierLiebel) and David Carson (@davidtcarson) of Solo Practice University (SPU) was one of the single most exciting experiences at LTNY. How did we end up connecting? Via Twitter – we decided to meet up before the “LTNY Tweetup” (Twitter meetup) being organized by Lisa Solomon (@lisasolomon).

Both Susan and David exude a true passion for helping solos and small firms. Susan and Dave told me all about SPU, and I have to say it’s one of those ideas that’s so good that you wonder why it hasn’t been done yet.

Solo Practice University is all about helping solos learn about running a law practice – and like Clio, it’s completely web-based. Susan has managed to put together a world-class contingent of SPU faculty, including Jay Foonberg, Carolyn Elefant, and Grant Griffiths and many others.

Since SPU is web-based, it opens up a whole new world of interaction possibilities that would be impossible in a physical classroom, including groups, blogs, and mini-communities.

A resource like this has long been lacking for solos, and it can’t go live soon enough. SPU is expected to launch in March. At Clio we’re going to support SPU in any way we can.

Susan also publishes one of the best blogs on solo practice: Build a Solo Practice, LLC. Add it to your RSS feed if it’s not already.

We also told Susan and Dave all about Clio, and they seemed equally excited by how Clio can help solos and small firms.  It was such a great one-on-one meeting, and again, the result of just bringing a laptop and a Twitter account to a big convention like LegalTech New York.

We just returned from an exciting few days at LegalTech New York (LTNY).

We decided against having a booth at LTNY, as we wanted the freedom to catch the events, and to connect with the great people that have helped to make Clio a success – solos, small firms and the many people dedicated to Legal Technology. Instead, we opted to run a bit of an experiment: using Twitter as the primary vehicle for meeting people and getting the word out about Clio. We’re glad we did!

For those not familiar with Twitter, it’s often referred to as a “micro-blogging” platform; anyone can post a short message (under 140 characters) via Twitter’s website, a mobile device, or a desktop client such as TweetDeck.

The blogosphere has been alight with excitement (and skepticism) about Twitter and how it fits into the legal space. Bloggers such as  Kevin O’Keefe, Bob Ambrogi, Carolyn Elefant and Susan Cartier Liebel have all weighed in on the lively discussion about Twitter.

At LTNY, the session that easily generated the most buzz was the Twitter panel moderated by Monica Bay (@commonscold) featuring Matthew Homann (@matthomann), Kevin O’Keefe (@kevinokeefe), and Chris Winfield (@chriswinfield). The attendance certainly affirmed that there is a tremendous amount of interest in Twitter; so much that big companies like LexisNexis (@mhtweets) and Thomson Reuters (@westlaw) have even started to get in on the fun. It was interesting to hear how so many of the panelists felt that Twitter had, in a real way, changed their lives and how they communicate.

So how did Twitter change our lives? At LTNY our big announcement was the release of Clio Connect, which enables Clio users to securely share information with clients, collaborate on documents, and send bills (and also receive payments) online. At the beginning of LTNY we tweeted about the fact that we were available for one-on-one demos, and requested that anyone interested in Clio or Clio Connect Direct Message us on Twitter to set up a meeting.

The result? We received such an overwhelming response we wished we had more time. The entire two days of LTNY were spent in demos with potential users, existing users, and the legal media showing them what Clio can do. We even found out existing users of Clio, such as Jason Molder (@jasonmolder), were at the conference, and were able to meet up with them for a feedback session. Keeping in touch with Twitter is unlike any other technology we’ve ever used because it’s so immediate, and so location-specific (check out the #LTNY search tag for a blow-by-blow stream of what was happening at LTNY). Twitter opens up possibilities that e-mail just can’t. We also had a fantastic time at the LTNY tweetup (Twitter meet-up) organized by Lisa Solomon (@lisasolomon).

We had what was easily one of the most successful and exciting tradeshows we’d ever attended – and we didn’t even have a booth. We just showed up with a laptop, some free time, and a Twitter account: @goclio.

Today at New York LegalTech 2009 (Feb. 2-4), we’re proud to unveil Clio Connect, a secure web-based portal for online document sharing, client collaboration, and online bill paying. Clio Connect will be available to all users of Clio at no additional charge.

Clio Connect works seamlessly as a value-added feature of the main Clio system. It allows Clio users to share information and collaborate with clients through an easy-to-use online interface. Clio Connect will also enable online bill-paying for the attorney’s clients. Attorneys simply send their clients a link to an outstanding invoice, and the client can easily pay the invoice via PayPal or other online payment systems.

Highly secure, Clio Connect is password-protected so only authorized parties, namely Clio users and their clients, can access sensitive client information. This means that, rather than managing large quantities of non-secure e-mail, lawyers can leverage Clio’s bank-grade security technology to safely share information and collaborate on key aspects of a case.

Clio Connect Highlights

Document Sharing and Collaboration with Clients. Clio Connect allows attorneys to give clients password-protected access to documents, and to collaborate on revising documents. The following information can be shared using Clio Connect:

• At-a-glance information on a file/matter, including recent activity, outstanding balances, etc.
• Notes/Correspondence
• Documents, such as Word, Excel and PDF files
• Comments on Documents
• Bills/Invoices

Online Bill Paying. Attorney can use the Clio Connect e-mail system to send clients links to outstanding invoices. Clients can then use online applications such as PayPal to remit payment.

Rigid Security and Password Protection:. Clio Connect is highly secure, incorporating leading edge security and encryption tools to protect communications and sensitive client information. Client documents and data are safely stored and accessed within Clio Connect’s easy-to-use interface.

Specifications and Pricing
Clio and Clio Connect are operating system-independent and can run on PC, Macintosh and Linux computers. Both systems support Internet Explorer 6.0 and 7.0, Mozilla Firefox 2.0 and 3.0, Safari 3.0 and Google Chrome.

Clio is affordably priced by monthly subscription, and Clio Connect access is included in Clio’s subscription fee. Pricing is $49/month for lawyers and $25/month per support staff member. This cost includes all technical support, maintenance and upgrades.