Blog

January 9th, 2012 by Gwynne Monahan

#GoneClio Beate Weiss-Krull

Meet Beate Weiss-Krull, a general practitioner based in Portland, Oregon. A German native, she is fluent in both German and English.

Tell us a little bit about your practice.

I started my own firm in 2006. I do estate planning, advise small businesses and do consultations in German. There is a large German population in Portland, Oregon. I also represent clients in Germany, and go to Germany one or two times a year.

That’s interesting. How does the international aspect work?

Clio makes it possible to communicate with clients in Germany.

Nice. Did you use anything before Clio?

I first used a regular paper file to keep my time, and then I changed to Quickbooks. I put time in Quickbooks and ran billing through Quickbooks. It was more time consuming than now, and I’m just so amazed. For example, in Germany, I had a client say “hey we did this thing last year” and I just had it on Clio and I was able to just look at it and tell them what we did. I was just amazed.

For estate planning, though, not so thrilled about being on a virtual environment. It’s no problem having the questionnaire but some worry about information on the web. For those clients, I have a paper file, but that’s a client management/education thing. What if the house burns down? What if someone breaks in? Privacy laws are very tight in Germany, too.

What made you decide on Clio?

I was on Twitter, and for me I knew had to do something. Billing at the end of the month stressed me out. Saw chatter about Rocket Matter, saw chatter about Clio, talked to Bev at the Oregon State Bar, looked a little bit more.

What sold me was the Clio Connect feature. I just really liked it, and I’m partial to yellow and red. Sunny and cheery. The Clio Connect feature, though, “wow that is just the coolest thing ever.”

What problems did Clio help your firm solve?

Billing. Love that the billing is all integrated. Thing I don’t like is interface with Quickbooks. Done all my billing but haven’t done the transition to Quickbooks. Quickbooks is still a continuing issue for me. Would like to see something more intuitive.

Will make a note of that. So, what did you find to be Clio’s most valuable feature?

I like the integration of trust accounting and billing. Best thing since sliced bread. Integration, tied to Matter. Email to Matter. Bill it to the Matter. No extra steps. I can receive payments against the clients, take it out of trust. I’m really just a fan. Using Clio is the best thing I could’ve done for my practice.

One thing I would like to see, maybe just have a “help” thing, how to make a password secure, link it to a password generator. Then everyone will be a lot safer.

Will make a note of that as well. What benefits have you realized from Clio that you didn’t anticipate?

I didn’t anticipate the whole Matter would be filed virtually. I would not have imagined it’s that user-friendly and intuitive either. I never figured out how paperless law practice would be until I used Clio. I didn’t think it’d be as comprehensive, and thought I’d still have to keep paper files. The administrative time that is gone now is just unbelievable.

Have Clio & “the Cloud” changed the way you practice law? If so, how?

It allows me to serve more clients than before because I have more time to manager more Matters. Virtual assistants to hire on an hourly basis on the side would be great.

How did you find the process of getting up and running with Clio?

Very easy. Nothing memorable or stood out as a pain. Just quick, easy. No issue. Just easy. To be honest, I don’t really remember it. There it was, free trial, had a Matter with a client to try it out and it was just awesome. Just started from Point X and from Point X on it worked.

How has Clio improved your firm and the service you offer your clients?

It’s amazing. It’s just great. Much quicker. I don’t have to figure out how I’m going to send email in a safe way. I can upload documents to the assistant at my office, she just logs into Clio and downloads and that’s that. I just connect, upload and there it is.

Have you had any experiences with Clio’s support team?

Yeah, I had a couple of questions before. Then I had help and that was good.

Would you recommend Clio to your colleagues?

I have on numerous occasions.

Mac or PC?

I upgraded to a MacBook Pro from a Toshiba. Don’t know how I ever worked with “Mr. Toshiba.”

Nice. Anything else you’d like to add?

I’m German and I will tell you the truth at all times. I’ve been very happy and very pleased with Clio.