January | 2011 | Official Clio Blog

Archive for January, 2011

January 31, 2011

Clio Strengthens Security of Cloud-Based Practice Management System with Two-Factor Authentication

LEGALTECH NEW YORK, NYC – January 31, 2011 – At LegalTech New York this week, Vancouver-based Themis Solutions Inc. is pleased to announce improved security for its leading cloud-based legal practice management system, Clio, with the introduction of two-factor authentication. Designed to offer attorneys and their clients an even greater level of security and privacy protection, two-factor authentication was developed as part of Clio’s commitment to be the most secure practice management system in the cloud.

Although the internet is a trusted medium for hosting critical applications and information, passwords are often a weak link in the chain of security between a web application and a user. Clio’s two-factor authentication option allows subscribers to require that passwords be used in conjunction with a secure PIN delivered to a mobile device or other secondary authentication mechanism. This means enhanced security for all users, and ensures that a weak or compromised password can’t be used alone to gain access to sensitive data.

Jack Newton, President of Clio, notes, “Security is a critical component of any cloud-based law practice management solution. At Clio, we continually strive to provide our customers with leading-edge tools and security, and two-factor authentication furthers our commitment to provide our users with the best data security and privacy protection in the market.” Newton continues, “In a world of many passwords, it’s easy for credentials to become familiar, repetitive and ultimately insecure. With two- factor authentication, sensitive firm information remains protected, even if a password becomes compromised.”

For more information on Clio and two-factor authentication security, visit: www.goclio.com.

About Clio and Themis Solutions
Clio, a comprehensive web-based practice management Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product, is specifically designed for solo practitioners and small law firms using PCs or Macs. It can be accessed from any internet-enabled computer or mobile device. Secure and easy-to-use, Clio provides case/matter management, time tracking, billing/invoicing, client contact and document management, task scheduling, trust accounting, and detailed performance analysis and reporting. In addition, Clio includes Clio Connect, a secure portal for document sharing, bill payment and collaboration with clients, as well as Clio Express, an offline time capture application. Clio also offers dynamic synchronization services with Google Apps and Microsoft Outlook.

Clio’s parent company, Themis Solutions Inc., is based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company was founded by Jack Newton and Rian Gauvreau. Visit www.goclio.com, e-mail info@goclio.com, call 1-888-858-CLIO, or follow on Twitter @goclio.

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January 26, 2011

#cliotraining Tuesday Tip: 3 Steps to Find all Documents under same Category

Matters tend to have many documents associated with them. Word documents, PDFs and perhaps different versions of them, too.

And all kinds of documents. Communications. Motions. Offers. Orders. Pleadings. The more documents you add, the trickier it becomes to find all the ones associated with a particular Category.

A quick way to find all the documents in a particular Category is to use the filter function. To do this, follow these three steps:

Go to the Documents tab.
Click the “More” button, which is next to the “Add” button.
Select the Category from the drop down menu.

Voila! Now only those documents associated with the Category you selected are shown.

Wondering what else can be done with Documents? Check out our Documents Support page to learn more

And if you have tips to share, let us know. We’d love to hear them!

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January 20, 2011

Clio Founder Jack Newton Presents CLE Course on Cloud Computing at NY State Bar Association 2011 Annual Meeting on January 27th in NYC

New York, NY – January 20, 2011 – Jack Newton, President and Co-Founder of Vancouver-based Clio will be presenting a CLE course at the New York State Bar Association 2011 Annual Meeting entitled, “Cloud-Based Practice Management,” at the New York Hilton on Thursday, Jan. 27th from 3:10-4pm. An expert on web-based and cloud technology, Newton will provide valuable insights as to the advantages, drawbacks, ethics and security considerations of switching to a cloud-based law office.

The session is part of a 1-5pm MCLE program for the Committee on Law Practice Management, entitled: “Technology You Can Use in Your Practice…Right Now: Mandatory E-Filing, Social Networking, Cloud-Based Practice Management, and Tools that You Already Have.” For more information or to register, visit the NYSB website.

The full afternoon program, which includes Newton’s presentation, accredits 4.0 hours in Law Practice Management to all participating attorneys. Newton joins a panel of prominent attorney and legal consultant presenters, including Moderator Barbara Beauchamp of NYSBA and Newton’s co-presenter, John McCarron of McCarron Consulting Group.

A pioneer in the area of legal cloud computing, Newton is a founding member and acting president of the newly-formed Legal Cloud Computing Association.

Newton remarks: “An ever-increasing number of solo, small and mid-size law firms are migrating to the cloud to enjoy the benefits and convenience of web-based software and anywhere accessibility. However, lawyers need to ensure they are carefully assessing that their prospective cloud providers have adopted best practices relating to data availability, security and privacy. I am pleased to provide this educational seminar for New York attorneys so they can make informed decisions when it comes to selecting a cloud-based service provider.”

About Clio and Themis Solutions
Clio, a comprehensive cloud-based practice management product, is specifically designed for solo practitioners and small law firms using PCs and Macs. It can be accessed from any Internet-enabled computer or mobile device. Secure and easy-to-use, Clio provides case/matter management, time tracking, billing/reporting, client contact and document management, task scheduling, trust accounting, and performance metrics for independent lawyers to benchmark their business goals. In addition, Clio includes Clio Connect, a secure portal for document sharing and collaboration with clients, and Clio Express, an offline time capture application.

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January 18, 2011

#cliotraining Tuesday Tip: Add Clio Mobile to your Home Screen

We’ve gotten a some questions the past few days about a Clio App for iPhone, Android devices and other mobile platforms.

While we don’t offer a specific mobile application at this time, we do have a customized mobile website that you can access from your mobile browser: https://m.goclio.com

It will look something like this:

Some of our users have pointed out that while the mobile interface is excellent, it is a pain to have to pull it up through a mobile browser all the time. Being avid mobile users ourselves, we offer this tip:

Add https://m.goclio.com icon to your Home screen.

Adding our mobile site icon to your Home screen varies by device. To add the icon to the Home screen of your iPhone, for example, do the following:

Visit https://m.goclio.com on your iPhone browser
Click the ‘+’ symbol along the bottom of the screen
Click the “Add to Home Screen” option

For an Android device, like a Motorola Droid, there are some additional steps.

Visit https://m.goclio.com on your Android device browser
Bookmark it
Go to your Bookmarks
Press and hold the Clio thumbnail
Select “Add shortcut to Home” from the menu

You can move the icon around your Home page just as you move any other icon. That way, you can group it with your other productivity apps so it is at the ready.

We also encourage you to check out our Clio Mobile section in Support for more information on adding tasks, entering time or adding a calendar appointment.

And if you have tips to share, let us know. We’d love to hear them!

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January 14, 2011

ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 Public Hearing 2/11/11

The ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 is holding a public hearing during the 2011 ABA Midyear Meeting in Atlanta.

The public hearing is scheduled for Friday, February 11, 2011 from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. at the Marriott Atlanta Marquis, Room A702, Atrium Level.

In its hearing notice, the Commission states the purpose of the hearing as follows:

…to provide the Commission with comments and suggestions relating to all the various Issues Papers and Discussion Drafts released to date. The Commission also welcomes and encourages testimony regarding other issues relevant to its work as detailed on the Commission’s website.

Six papers, to date, are listed for discussion:

Issues Paper Concerning Lawyers’ Involvement in Alternative Litigation Financing
Issues Paper Concerning the ABA Model Rule on Admission by Motion
Issues Paper Concerning Client Confidentiality and Lawyers’ Use of Technology
Issues Paper Concerning Lawyers’ Use of Internet Based Client Development Tools
Discussion Draft Regarding Domestic and International Outsourcing
Memoranda and Templates for Comment- Inbound Foreign Lawyer Issues

Each issue is important to solos and small firms in some context, so we encourage you to submit an outline of your testimony to Kimley Grant by January 31, 2011. You can email your testimony to grantk@staff.abanet.org or mail in a hard copy to the following address:

ABA Center for Professional Responsibility
15th Floor
Attn. Kimley Grant
321 N. Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60654

The Commission wants to hear from you even if you don’t attend. You can send your comments to Natalia Vera at veran@staff.abanet.org, or to her attention:

ABA Center for Professional Responsibility
15th Floor
Attn. Natalia Vera
321 N. Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60654

The Notice of Public Hearing (PDF) has more information, along with PDF links to the issues papers.

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January 13, 2011

Clio Webinars come to Fridays too!

We’re pleased to announce that our Clio Webinars are coming to Fridays!

Currently, we hold a Clio Webinar every Wednesday at 9am PST/12Noon EST. These webinars are different from our #cliotraining webinars in that they provide a complete in person walk through of Clio. It covers everything from managing Matters and Clients to Time tracking and Billing and all the areas in between.

Now, you can experience a complete Clio walk through on Fridays at 11:30 PST/2:30 EST.

Here are registration links for the remaining Fridays in January:

Friday, January 14 https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/313345120
Friday, January 21 https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/610154993
Friday, January 28 https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/426973232

Like our #cliotraining webinars, these are also free to attend. Enjoy!

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January 13, 2011

2010: Year of the Cloud in Review

It’s week two of 2011, and we’re feeling nostalgic so we thought we’d share some highlights from 2010. It was quite a year, thanks to you, our readers and users, and your continued support.

We rolled out some new features, including an enhanced calendar, and email integration. We launched a new support site, our Facebook Page created by JDSupra, our first Apple in Law Firms Survey and our Clio Certified Consultant program, just to name a few. And who could forget the ClioPad, our best selling product?

Continuing education was a big part of 2010, through webinars, conference presentations and the formation of Legal Cloud Computing Association. We also got to know more of you, in person, through meetups at a number of places, including Austin, Denver, Scottsdale and conferences like the ABA TechShow and MILOfest. Needless to say, we’re looking forward to meetups in 2011.

2010 also brought about a noticeable shift in attitude towards cloud-computing. Indeed, towards the use of technology in law in general. We wrote quite a bit about “the cloud,” starting with a post, 2010: The Year of the Cloud, that was more a summary of recent articles (at the time) on cloud computing than a prediction. As 2010 progressed, however, it was exciting and quite interesting to see “the cloud” get a tremendous amount of attention.

Some Bar Associations also turned their focus to ethical-, security-, and privacy-related aspects of the cloud. The North Carolina Bar Association proposed ethics opinion on cloud computing was issued. The ABA took an active interest as well with its Commission on Ethics 20/20. It asked for comments on issue papers it published about Internet-based client development (think social media) and client confidentiality and lawyers’ use of technology (think cloud computing). Carolyn Elefant posted an excellent summary of the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 on MyShingle.

Speaking of which, the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 just announced it is holding a public hearing on February 11, 2011 from 9am to 12noon, in Atlanta, Georgia, as part of its MidYear meeting. You must send notice by January 31, 2011 if you want to participate. Specific details on what information to send, and to whom, are available from its hearing notice (PDF).

Attention was also brought to practical examples of cloud computing use, like a role it can play in business continuity and disaster plans, something that isn’t always discussed until it is too late.

So what will 2011 bring? Further adoption and acceptance of cloud computing? Mobile platform take-over? Changes to law school education? Anything is possible, as they say. And we’d like to point you to Ten Solos and Small Firm Law Trends 2011 over on MyShingle. It offers some interesting predictions and observations worth keeping in mind.

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January 10, 2011

Share your #cliotraining Tips

We’ve been posting a training tip on Training Tuesdays.

We hold webinars on Training Tuesdays that cover Clio more in-depth, like how to make the most of its communication features, how to more effectively capture time, how to collaborate with clients, Google integration and QuickBooks integration, just to name a few. What we’re curious about, though, is what tips you have and want to share.

For example, we wrote about Ana Pierro, who noted that she uses the communications tab as a “diary” for phone conversations. It made it possible for her to easily answer questions and discuss a case without having to spend time digging for the file on her computer or in a file drawer.

That got us thinking, and wondering: What tips do you have to share?

You can leave them in the comments, or email us: tips@goclio.com. You can tweet them, using #cliotraining, or post a comment on our Facebook page.

Thank you, and we look forward to sharing your tips!

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January 5, 2011

Clio Blog named Best Legal Technology Blog #clawbies2010

As 2010 ended, we were surprised to learn that we won a CLawBie for Best Legal Technology Blog.

The CLawBies are the Canadian Law Blog Awards, which aim to highlight “great blogs published by the Canadian legal industry.” There were a number of good nominations this year, as evidence by the #clawbies2010 Twitter stream, so we are quite honored to have been awarded Best Legal Technology Blog from such a distinguished field (in the interest of full disclosure we should point out we also sponsor the ClawBies).

We’d also like to congratulate all the award winners and runners-up. And we think you should take a look at all of them. We found some new, interesting blogs in each category. You’ll want to have a look.

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January 4, 2011

#cliotraining Tuesday Tip: Google Sync & Merging of Duplicates

Contacts. The life blood of your practice. You get referrals from them, solutions to problems, new marketing and website ideas and sometimes a good chuckle. And you collect new contacts at conferences, networking events, dinners and other gatherings.

Odds are good you sync your address book across devices so you always have contact information handy. You might even enter contacts into your smart phone right away, collect a business card anyway only to forget and put the contact in again at a later date.

Enter the Duplicate Problem. You now have two entries for the same person, and perhaps two entries for many of the same people. But how to tell? And how to fix all of them?

This is where Gmail comes in handy, especially if you use Google with Clio since you’ll also want a clean contact list in Clio.

To clean up your contacts by merging duplicates, click the “Contacts” link in Gmail. If you’re using Google Apps for Your Domain, a screen like this appears:

Image from Official Gmail Blog

Now click “Find duplicates” and Gmail comes back with a list of names and a number in () next to each name with a duplicate. If you want to check the information, click the “Details” button. If everything looks good, or you just want to get rid of the duplicates, click “Merge” and poof! Duplicates are gone, and you’re left with a clean contact list.

If you are just using Gmail, and not Google Apps for Your Domain, you can still perform a merge and clean up your contacts. Click the “Contacts” link, click the “More actions” button and then select “Find & merge duplicates…” You’ll get a list of names with () for duplicates, and you can check the information under “Details” before clicking “Merge” to clean up your contacts.

Now you have a clean contact list. Clean sync across devices. Clean sync with Clio. Hours saved. A good start to the New Year!

And you can find more information on merging contacts on Google’s Official Gmail Blog, along with plenty of other helpful tips.

Also, be sure to check out our Clio Sync for Google section for syncing contacts, calendar and Google Apps.

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