Clio

We’re happy to announce a partnership with LawCharge and the launch of LawCharge for Clio ClientConnect. LawCharge is the leading merchant account provider for the legal industry. LawCharge for Clio ClientConnect allows law firms to receive payments from clients via Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover.

We chose LawCharge as a partner because they offer several unique features to attorneys. Most notably, LawCharge allows attorneys to accept IOLTA-compliant trust account transactions via credit card. LawCharge accomplishes this by allowing attorneys to specify, based on the nature of the deposit, whether a given transaction gets deposited into your operating account or trust account. LawCharge also keeps deposits and merchant fees separate, allowing lawyers to properly segregate operating and trust funds, thereby adhering to IOLTA trust accounting rules.

To enable LawCharge for Clio ClientConnect all you need to do is log into your Clio account visit “Settings | Online Payment”. If you don’t have a Clio account you can always sign up for a free 30-day trial – all accounts include Clio ClientConnect.

Yes, today Apple is launching their much talked-about tablet. The other big news of the day? We’re launching the official Clio Facebook page!

Over the past year we’ve been hearing an increasing number of our customers asking us “hey, hey, where’s your Facebook page – I want to become a fan!” – and we’ve listened. Today we’re launching the Clio Facebook page as a home base to build a growing community and fanbase. Become a fan and get the latest news on Clio, announcements of upcoming webinars and training events, and special offers available only to our Facebook fans.

We’re also proud to be showcasing the latest Facebook applications and technology developed by the great folks over at JD Supra. The Clio Facebook page:

• automatically streams our blog and JD Supra document portfolio,
• allows visitors to sign up for our monthly newsletter
• publishes a daily social transcript of tweets on any subject (at time of writing, all tweets for “goclio”), and
• features a custom-built About Clio section, complete with press mentions, a tour of Clio’s software offerings, and the ability to sign up for Clio.

Over the years JD Supra has built up a tremendous expertise in the use of Facebook for legal professionals, and we’re extremely happy to be launching the Clio Facebook page with JD Supra’s leading-edge technology and expertise. Aviva Cuyler, JD Supra’s founder, comments:

As a legal content distributor, we’ve been building our own pages on Facebook – and now we are turning that skill set (for custom apps) and knowledge base (how to make the most of Facebook) into a product offering for legal professionals. We’re proud to have created Clio’s page – we see, daily, Facebook’s amazing ability to facilitate meaningful connections between firms and the people they want to reach through the viral spread of information.

We encourage you to become a fan of Clio’s Facebook page and, if you haven’t already created one for your firm, perhaps you should start thinking about it.

There was a time not so long ago when leaving the office marked an abrupt end to productivity. Long hours and late nights were a necessity not only to make ends meet, but also to be close to the technology that made billable work possible. This is all changing, and at a pace that’s almost dizzying. While BlackBerries and laptops have been around for years, most mobile warriors would likely agree that, although these tools provided some basic essential connectivity under urgent circumstances, only recently have mobile devices, and the infrastructure that supports them, matured to the point where practical mobility is truly a reality. As Nicole Garton-Jones points out in a recent Slaw.ca post entitled Practicing Law on the Road: the Role of the Cloud and the Emergence of the Virtual Law Firm, the convergence of cloud computing, advanced mobile devices, and ever-increasing mobile data speeds are making the long-held dream of a “virtual firm” a reality.

The number of game-changing mobile innovations to reach the market since 2007 is truly staggering, and the most recent batch of announcements out of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) suggests that the revolution is set to continue for the foreseeable future. The release of Google’s Nexus One Android-based smartphone offers a serious challenge to the primacy of Apple’s much-envied iPhone, and further converges the already blurry line between computer and phone, and making it ever-easier to achieve unfettered productivity while away from the office. Phones are no longer just wireless analogs of their desktop counterparts, they’re word processors, dictation machines, email clients, internet access devices, web browsers, navigation tools, timekeepers, expense trackers, file browsers, organizational tools, and game consoles among other things. The list is literally endless, and new applications are only limited by the creativity of the developers behind them – something always working to the advantage of the lawyer on-the-go.

But, the innovations don’t stop at smartphones; Apple’s rumoured tablet is said to be ready for unveiling next week, and all early reports indicate that the device is aiming to raise the portable computing bar to new heights. Despite much speculation about what the device might offer, there remains little agreement other than over the belief that the device will once again revolutionize the mobile world.

We’re excited about the many ways cloud computing and mobile technology will combine to create what we believe will be a new era of go-anywhere computing. We’re also committed to continuing Clio’s evolution with the mobile legal professional in mind, with the aim to promote increasing freedom, efficiency and mobility via the rapidly advancing mobile computing landscape.

2010 is already shaping up to be a momentus year for cloud computing – especially in the legal profession. Last week’s mention of the State Bar of Arizona’s recent favorable opinion regarding the use of online services for client collaboration speaks to a growing acceptance of web-based services as a part of regular practice – a point iterated again this week by David Whelan of the Law Society of Upper Canada on the popular Slaw.ca blog, and most recently by Joshua Poje in his article “The ABCs of Cloud-Based Practice Tools” which was published on the ABA’s Law Practice Today. David’s article titled “Where’s Your Stuff” is a great read for cloud novices and veterans alike, highlighting the more opaque details of what cloud computing actually means, along with the important considerations that should be made prior adopting any web-based service. Chief among these are the security and reliability implications involved with migrating to service-based applications such as backup policies, data portability, service level agreements (SLAs), and client confidentiality. Similarly, Joshua Poje examines the gamut of advantages and concerns revolving around the trend towards the cloud, including the topics of mobility, functionality, service and support. Moreover, Joshua details a thorough list of available SaaS tools, and a comprehensive list of questions that any prospective SaaS user would be wise to consult.

We’re definitely excited to see the SaaS star rising into mainstream acceptance, and are encouraged by great articles such as those by David Whelan and Joshua Poje, that are helping to add an objective voice to the web-based software discussion. As David puts it:

SaaS isn’t one-size-fits-all. Elements of your practice will be more or less conducive to using SaaS, depending on how you practice and how comfortable you are with placing your client and work information in the ether. You may decide to use SaaS just for e-mail and calendaring, with everything else installed on your local computer. However you decide to use SaaS applications, they are an exciting new and mature option for many law offices.

If you haven’t already, we encourage everyone to add Slaw.ca and the ABA’s Law Practice Today to their list of regular reading, and recommend giving both Mr. Whelan & Mr. Poje’s articles a read.

A recent post on Slaw.ca (which was recently selected as the best overall legal blog by Dennis Kennedy’s Blawggies) by practice management guru Dave Bilinsky brings to light one of the first ethics opinions to be issued on the topic of preserving client confidentiality when offering client file access online. The opinion, which was issued by the State Bar of Arizona, considers the implications of using online “storage and retrieval systems” such as FTP sites, and online collaboration portals like Clio ClientConnect to securely exchange sensitive client records via the internet, stating that:

Lawyers providing an online file storage and retrieval system for client access of documents must take reasonable precautions to protect the security and confidentiality of client documents and information.

In his review of the opinion, Mr. Bilinsky aptly points out that, while electronic file storage/transmission was deemed permissible by the State Bar of Arizona,  the crux of the opinion centered around “satisfying the duty to take reasonable security precautions”, and urging lawyers to “consider firewalls, password protected schemes, encryption, anti-virus measures, etc.” when designing a secure collection of systems to protect their client information.

As suggested in the ethics opinion, and in our previous posts on the topic of online security, its important for legal professionals to recognize themselves as important components of the total security equation, and accordingly “take the necessary time and energy to become competent or alternatively consult available experts in the field.” Click here to read the full article by Mr. Bilinsky on Slaw.ca.

Today is the best day of the year to change the way you manage your practice. At Clio we’re often asked when the best time to switch practice management systems is, and year-end is a natural time to draw a line between usage of your old system and the new. You and your staff are returning from a refreshing break and are amenable to looking at doing things in a new way.

While we can’t promise success with the rest of your resolutions, one change we can promise will deliver results to your practice in 2010 is adopting a practice management system. This is a change that will help you practice efficiently and effectively, avoid malpractice complaints, and get more done in less time.

Look at this New Year’s Day as an opportunity to introduce true change in the way you manage your practice. Adopt a practice management system (it doesn’t have to be Clio – just something you’re happy with!). If you’re using a practice management system you’re not satisfied with, make a switch.

Happy New Year from Clio.