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.

In partnership with the Legal Talk Network, we’re pleased to bring you this month’s installment of the #goneclio Podcast. Last month, we interviewed Jason Kohlmeyer of Rosengren Kohlmeyer Law Office, a small law firm based in the region hub of Mankato, Minnesota.

Listen as Clio CEO and co-founder Jack Newton and Jason discuss Jason’s transition from working at a Minnesota-large law firm to his own small law practice, and how #cloudcomputing apps, like Dropbox and Evernote, help make his firm efficient.

Listen to the podcast:

#goneclio Jason Kohlmeyer

Meet Jason Kohlmeyer, a founding partner of the Rosengren Kohlmeyer Law Office, based in the region hub of Mankato, Minnesota.

What Prompted You to Start Your Own Firm?

I’ve been a lawyer for 11 years, and Chris Rosengren has been a lawyer for 13 years. We both worked in large firms before opening up our own. We realized we could do it ourselves, so we started our firm in September of 2008 and from day one, we’ve been talking about efficiency. You get efficient by trimming overhead.
We focus on three things:

1. Plaintiffs Worker Compensation
2. Criminal Defense
3. Family Law

How many people work in your firm?

We have three lawyers and four staffers.

Did you incorporate?

Yes. We’re an S-Corporation.

Did you use anything before Clio?

Yes. The old firm used Amicus. They had Time Matters for about 6 months, but no one could figure it out so they shifted to Amicus. It was kind of cool, and they used it from ‘02-’09. When I started Kohlmeyer Rosengren, we dropped $6000 on Amicus for the accounting side. It was OK but after the first year we got hit with a service contract, about $2000, which was pretty steep.

We looked at Clio and Rocket Matter seriously. I didn’t like the every month concept, but we broke down the service plan (we were always calling for service with Amicus), and with no extra costs for upgrades or support, we saw it was more economical. And the transition to Clio was insanely easy. We’d only been around for a year, so we didn’t have a whole lot of information, but they exported the stuff from Amicus and imported the stuff to Clio. It took a little time but it was pretty darn seamless. Never crashed. Internet 99% up, so we can be working from home, too. It’s just fantastic.

What made you decide on Clio? Did you try out any other solutions?

I called up Rocket Matter initially. I thought their website was too basic, and I wanted to know what I’m signing up for. Their big pitch was “sign up and you’ll figure it out” and I didn’t like that. I do like not having to pay the same price for staffers though. Clio saves up front with low cost. Anyway, the big thing was Outlook integration. Rocket Matter didn’t do that at the time.

What problems did Clio help your firm solve?

Number one thing in terms of immediacy was billing. Every year I teach a class on how to get paid in tough economic times (like the last 4 years). Clio lets us look at what we’re billing in a day and what we’re collecting instead of just showing hours. We’re big on branding so having our logo on our bills was a big deal. Couldn’t do that with Amicus.

Oh, and having client contact information, and being able to integrate email made Clio so much easier than Amicus. And the speed! Amicus, even though we had a server, every click took forever. Four seconds from Matter to phone number. Clio is faster. I can click on the Notes while talking to a client, and they pop right up so I can see they have 3 kids, and I can ask about them while talking to the client. It sounds like I know them.

What did you find to be Clio’s most valuable feature?

Ease of access to the data in the cloud. Absolutely the best feature of Clio. Sitting at home,  might wonder “what time is the hearing?” and can just hop on my iPad and check. Or I just remember a task, and I can whip out my phone and add it while sitting in the local drive-thru.

Search is pretty darn quick, too. Amicus was just painful. I couldn’t do good conflict checks. With Clio, someone calls, quick search and boom, there’s their name and information.

What benefits have you realized from Clio that you didn’t anticipate?

Backup. We do have a server for on site storage of backup hard drive. But if the firm burns down tomorrow, all we need to do is go down to Best Buy, buy some laptops and we’ll be good to go. All the billing is there, and all client contact information is there.

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

Yes. Looking back, pre-Clio and post-Clio, Clio has been the catalyst that said this is prime time, the way of the future. So as long as we have an Internet connection, we can really do almost anything in the cloud. We use Dropbox and Evernote to help go paperless. If we’re sitting in any courtroom with wifi or 3G, we can do a quick search in Clio and find what we need.

Also, we never really tracked what our staffers did in terms of time/billables, either. Now, we run a report in Clio every Monday and we can see what they’ve been doing. If they’re not reaching hours, we have a chat with them and see if they’re billing for everything. Doing that has probably paid for 5 years of Clio.

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

Pretty darn good. Bulk of it was so self explanatory. Here’s the name, type it in. Watch the videos. That’s one of the things that made us happy with Clio. With Amicus, we bought all the training materials and it sucked. Drop a few grand on a product, and then drop more for training that isn’t very good. With Clio, you just watch a 3 minute video and you know how to do something.

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

We never really hopped on Clio Connect, we just don’t do that. But we do email the bill directly, which helps on paperless side quite a bit. Just the constant “we know what we’re talking about,” that a client has 3 kids not 2 kids. Knowing how many kids are involved in a case makes you look smarter. Five or ten cases, easy to remember those things. If you have 40 cases, though, you don’t remember everything.

We populate the Notes feature. Time we put on the bill for the client, but the Notes are in house. We do so much email so we’ll cut and paste something important into the Notes. Clio helps us stay on top of the files better so they don’t get as lost as they used to. The Notes provide a quick history, an update on the case. Easy to stay on top of a summary. Notes are really easiest way for small practitioners to stay on top of things.

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

Yes. I know my staff emailed 25 times but we always got an answer back, either a phone call or an email. I never felt like we were being upsold too, either. Clio Support is always pleasant, and easy to talk to.

As an example, we had a weird glitch. A trust account was $4.18 off, I had some time so went at it to try and figure it out. I emailed Clio Support, and got a standard type of response. And then, a couple hours later, I got an answer that they were working on it, escalating it. It was like they cared. They called back, and it was nice. The problem got resolved.

I never remember being happy when getting off the phone with Amicus support.

Would you recommend Clio to your colleagues?

Absolutely, though not to my competitors. I want them to be inefficient. All my buddies that aren’t competitors, though, you bet. Anyone outside the market, I’m pushing Clio all the time. I’m constantly a Clio cheerleader.

The hardest sell is those who use Outlook. If they haven’t bought into the practice management idea, it’s a tough sell as they don’t really get it. Rocket Matter is a little wittier, though, in their advertising. Clio could work on that.

Mac or PC?

PC, though partner has iPhone and we use iPads. Still PC. It’s just what we know. We sarted super cheap, went to a Dell outlet and got a PC-based server for the printer. We knew the PC system already, and it’s cheap and reliable. But now, it matters less since we’re in the cloud.

Final thoughts?

We really enjoy the product. And it was cool to email suggestions and then see some of those suggestions implemented. We made a bunch of suggestions to Clio, and they always followed up. Sent suggestion once about documents and got a great response on why they can’t do documents, and what they’re trying to do instead of just throwing the suggestion away. It was neat that they responded like that.

You almost feel like you have a stake in the company. Almost like a buy in, you get that emotional buy in. Whenever Clio releases a new features, it’s kind of a big day at the office. We get excited. The pictures feature, we had fun with that. We put actual staff pictures, which was kind of neat.

All and  in all we love the product, the company and dealing with you guys. Be a little wittier in the advertising, though (wink).

In August, we introduced our #GoneClio blog post series where we interview a solo or small firm lawyer about their use of Clio, their practice and what it’s like to run a business.

Today, we’re pleased to introduce the #GoneClio Podcast.

Hosted by Clio CEO and co-founder Jack Newton, the #GoneClio Podcast provides a deep dive into the inner workings of solo and small firm lawyers featured in our #GoneClio blog post series. Our first podcast is with Chad E. Burton, founding attorney of Burton Law.

Listen to the podcast:

Listen to the podcast.

First, congratulations on the launch of your firm!

Thank you.

What prompted you to start your own law firm?

I grew up with idea of having a family business. The dream just grew and grew to the point where I got disenchanted with the idea of working for someone else, and not being the captain of my own ship.

There is a lot more upside potential by having my own firm. Plus, I can practice law the way I think it should be practiced, take cases I want, refuse cases I don’t want, and basically call the shots. Now I’m master of my domain. I love it.

And the endeavor has been a great success so far! The whole key is staying positive. I no longer have time to entertain negative thoughts, and I don’t have room in my life for negative people. What they say is true: if you put good energy into something, good things come of it. I’m living proof: in just a few weeks, I’ve realized my dream and already have more clients than I can handle coming in. And my positivity has been the driving force.

Did you decide to incorporate?

Yes, as a PLLC for additional liability protection. It doesn’t provide professional liability protection (at least while I’m a solo), but it does cover business liability and it makes it easier to separate expenses for deductions and all of that.

What did you use before Clio?

I was working at a large AmLaw100 firm, and they had their own systems. They used DM5, also known as Hummingbird, for document management, and Provantage for billing (but I didn’t really get into that part). Since settling on Clio that’s all I’ve been using.

What made you decide on Clio? Did you try out any other solutions?

I like that it puts everything together: billing, timekeeping, client contact information, case numbers. It all relates to one another and I really appreciate that. I can keep track of time with timers, and link time. I like the communications tabs to jot down phone conversations, and the ability to import email into the system. I can see all the contact I’ve had with the client, and see how the case progressed.

That was really difficult at the big law firm. Some attorney notes were hand written, some were in Outlook. I can’t stand Outlook. It’s too hard to search, so I setup a Google Apps account for my firm. And with Clio, I can bcc a client file when sending and receiving emails, which helps cut down on search time and frustration. Makes my day go much more smoothly, and saves time and improves my bottom line.

The less time spent tracking down notes and finding emails, the more time I have to make money.

I did look into Rocket Matter, but I just remember the functionality wasn’t as robust, and data exporting and all that wasn’t quite as good. I don’t remember if Rocket Matter allows Quickbooks connection, or whether it has its own accounting, but Clio had it all connected, which makes my trust accounting that much easier. Everything is connected to the case so I can make sure balances in single trust accounts are correct.

What problems did Clio help your firm solve?

In starting out on my own, I was looking for an affordable way to set up shop. I didn’t want to go out and buy 5 different pieces of software and try to put it all together, Frankenstein-style. For the low monthly fee, Clio provides all the functionality at once and saves me from paying for additional IT support.

Also, as a solo and a younger attorney, I like the mobility. I can access Clio on my iPhone, my iPad, my MacBook Air, and my iMac. I operate a virtual office on Capitol Hill, so it’s helpful to have access to all my files when I go there. I use Dropbox, too, to keep files straight and synced across all computers—and I’m very excited about Clio’s new Dropbox integration! Client notes, trust accounting—it’s nice to have it all at my finger tips. And when I visit family in Michigan, I can log on via my parents’ computer and everything is right there.

The father of a friend of mine has a practice that focuses on medical malpractice, out on Long Island. He suggested I use Daylight and FileMaker Pro since he does that, and it works for him. He has to maintain the database himself, though, and backup all the files. I didn’t want to have to do that. With Clio, it’s like having an IT department without having to hire anyone.

What other technology do you use for your law practice?

Apart from the hardware I already mentioned, I use Dropbox, Google Voice, and Gmail (via Google Apps). It would be cool to integrate Google Voice into Clio, too. Then there would be a record of the call to associate with client file. I realize there’s a lot of difficultly setting that up, but it would be fantastic. I also use a ScanSnap S1500 to run (almost) paperlessly.

I’m a stickler for data backup, so I run several redundant backup systems with my files. I use Time Machine and have separate off-site backups. I have a bootable backup drive attached to my iMac. And Clio is like an additional redundant backup. I appreciate that. It’s kind of a safety net, just in case.

And whether you consider them to be “technology” or just creature comforts, I have a standing desk and a gel pad to stand on, a portable bookstand for reading, and several full-spectrum lights.

What did you find to be Clio’s most valuable feature?

The integration. It’s not particularly one feature over another, it’s the fact that all of them are there. I love the communications tab: it’s nice to jot down attorney notes from phone calls and client meetings. And, of course, the e-mail dropboxes are tremendously helpful. I can see everything that is going on in the case at once.

What benefits have you realized from Clio that you didn’t anticipate?

None come to mind. When I buy software I expect it to be excellent. I’m pleased that it’s operating as expected.

I do have a suggestion.

Sure. What’s your suggestion?

The Calendar tab is great, however, people who use Google Calendars share them often, so to protect client confidentiality I have a separate Google Calendar for firm-related things. I don’t want others to have access to that, to see that I’m meeting with a particular client. Although it’s nice that Clio can show me the law firm and personal firm calendar, there’s no way to import, as far as I can tell, someone’s personal calendar into Clio so you can see how the schedule all lays out. It’d be nice to be able to see work-related events and personal events on the same screen to detect overlaps.

Probably more on Google, but it’d be nice if I could somehow import my Clio calendar into my personal Google Calendar, too, just so that it would show my time is blocked.

The Clio Calendar and Tasks are the two things I don’t really use. And I don’t use Tasks because I use Omnifocus. If there were a way to connect Clio to Omnifocus, that would  be like the holy grail for me. Same thing with Evernote, you know, be able to link an Evernote Notebook to the file in Clio.

Good to know. Will pass those on. So, have Clio & “the Cloud” changed the way you practice law? If so, how?

Generally yes, personally probably not. Even at the big law firm, I would use tools and technology that were efficient, and worked with my style. It would’ve been more difficult to start my own firm without Clio, though.

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

Pretty painless. I kinda poked around when I first signed up, but you don’t really see how it works until you start putting client information in. Once I started getting clients, it all came together. But it’s kind of a no-brainer. Seems idiot proof to me.

Has Clio improved your firm and the service you offer your clients?

Yes, just because I have more time available. I have access to all or most of my files wherever I’m at, as long as I have an Internet connection. I can travel freely, and still work on cases when away from my desk.

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

Yes. I signed up for Clio, probably in August, and at that time I wasn’t sure what my last day at the old law firm was going to be. I didn’t have any clients coming in at the time and I wasn’t able to explore Clio to make sure it was what I wanted. I called up to see if I could get the trial period extended, and give it a test once I was up and running and you guys put that through without a hitch. I was really thankful for that.

Would you recommend Clio to your colleagues?

Yes, I definitely would. I have a buddy who is planning on leaving his job at a big firm and going out on his own in January or February. I may have already recommended it to him, but I will certainly recommend it to him again.

Mac or PC?

Mac. The summer I took the bar I bought an iPhone. I’ve had it for over 2 years now and it still works, flawlessly. So the iPhone started my love affair with Macs. I bought an iPad 2, and liked it just as well, and that led to an iMac desktop (great for word processing!), and finally a MacBook Air to access everything at my virtual office. I’m certainly a Mac convert.

What prompted you to start your own law firm?

I always wanted to own a business, and always wanted to be a lawyer, so it was just naturally what I wanted to do. At the firm where I used to work, I saw how it wasn’t being operated efficiently, and there was a very big resistance to change even if for the better. I just thought I could do it better and make more money out on my own. And it’s worked out that way.

And how many people are in your firm?

Right now, just myself and three support staff. I’m looking to hire another attorney soon, though.

Did you incorporate?

Yes. I formed an LLC since it’s just the easiest incorporation to do. Don’t have to do much to keep it up. I pay an annual fee and file one report each year with the Sectretary of State. Basically, an LLC is the easiest route to go and still cover my business needs, and shielding against certain liabilities.

Ah. That makes sense. So, what did you use before Clio?

At the an old law firm, we used PCLaw, which is a practice management system but it’s not in the cloud. You have to install it, and buy a certain amount of licenses. I didn’t want to use it when I went out on my own. It just seemed clunky, and there were always issues with software or the computer. They’d fight each other. And I’m out of the office a lot so I liked the idea of being able to access anything. I can access all my client stuff in the cloud, with Clio, which is what I was looking for.

What made you decide on Clio? Did you try out any other solutions?

I looked into Rocket Matter, but was speaking with a friend of mine who was going to open an office and we were talking about both. She told me she sent Clio a question, and the president of Clio responded quickly, which made me look at them. I sent a few emails to Clio, and the responses were quick and they weren’t automated, which turned me onto Clio. I knew if there was an issue they’d be able to resolve it quickly. My friend saying it, me trying it, it worked well. The communications, the code you can put into the emails so it can go right into the client matter, huge time saver, too.

What problems did Clio help your firm solve?

Right now you called me and I’m not in the office, and the office passed you through. Happens often, so with Clio I can check files on the road. I can get work done outside the office, and I’m looking to open another office in another city, and because of Clio, doing so will be seamless. As long as we have access to Clio it won’t matter where we are.

I use Dropbox for all my digital client files, and Clio has all the client information so I don’t need to carry around folders. While talking to a client, I can look at the pleading we filed, and client information. Between Clio and Dropbox, I don’t need to carry around file folders. I do have paper files, too, though, but just to bring into court. Anything that comes into the office is scanned, and the main file is the digital file. The paper file is just a place holder.

What did you find to be Clio’s most valuable feature?

The cloud function for sure. The fact that, with PCLaw, when it outdates itself, you have to pay for upgrades. But with Clio, you just pay monthly, which includes upgrades when they come. Clio doesn’t tell me I have to pay $500 to upgrade to the next level or something. And the email code that sends it to the client matter saves us so much time of recording conversations and saving in a Communications folder. Clio just does it. The email code feature is my favorite thing.

What benefits have you realized from Clio that you didn’t anticipate?

None, really. It’s done what I expected it to do. Allows me to access what I need to access without having to be in the office. I can always virtually be in the office. And with opening another office in another city, because of Clio that’ll make the two offices the same. Will be really easy opening up the new office since I’m not starting from square one. Office we already have is going to be there, pretty much.

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

Absolutely. The other firm, the old firm, if they couldn’t find the physical client file, it was a near emergency. That kind of seems stupid now, for lack of a better word. If you just scan things in, you don’t have to be fumbling around or worrying about someone losing the file or always looking for it. Plus, you can back it up. The old firm spent tons of money on copiers. I don’t have one of those big copiers, just a scanner and a good printer. If the client needs a copy, I can print it. And with just one scan, we have the document forever. Makes things less chaotic, and from a business point of view, reduced overhead to practice law. Copiers are expensive, break a lot so you have to fix them. Digital and in the cloud functions save on overhead, and the less overhead you have, the more profit you can make.

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

It was pretty easy. Did the 30-day trial. My secretaries, who are not as computer savvy, find it easy and really like it. I’ve asked if they like Clio, or if should we look into something else and they say they like Clio. And they use it more than me since they input all the data into it, and I just see the information once it’s in there. If I can make their life easier, they make my life easier.

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

Goes back to availability. If I’m at a conference and a client calls, I don’t have to tell them “have to wait for me to get back to the office to look at the file,” or if I’m calling the client, I don’t have to go to the office to get the number. Clio has opened up my general availability to clients.

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

Not really. I haven’t needed much support. I’ve gone into the Help section a few times, gone through the tutorials and those usually answer my questions.

Would you recommend Clio to your colleagues?

Absolutely. And I do. Practice of law is changing, and I just tell people it’s always better to start off doing something right than change mid-course. So if they can start with something the business is moving toward, like the cloud, it’ll save them the trouble having to convert systems later. I tell them I use Clio, haven’t had any issues and it’s worked well for us.

Law and business are moving digital. Digital files, digital filings. There’s no need to mail judgements to people or serve judgements to people. Today, when you file a suit in federal court, you don’t file it in paper, you type it up, PDF it and upload. Once other courts start catching onto that, before you know if there won’t be any paper, it’ll be digital. Just like federal court. The old firm was about making copies, saving the file, and the files get big. Then you end up spending money on more storage space and file cabinets. Made everything clunky and disorganized and more expensive to operate.

There is a front end cost to going digital. You have to get a scanner, a computer but it’s a one time cost. After initial investment, month-to-month operating costs will go down.

Mac or PC?

Mac. In my office, I have an iMac, Mac laptop, iPad, iPhone. Secretaries have PCs, though, I just prefer the Mac. Probably always keep a PC around since once in awhile something doesn’t work on a Mac, but Clio works seamlessly between Macs and PCs.

So how does your firm operate?

We have taken the traditional firm model and blown the walls out of the firm, got rid of on site administration help. Each lawyer gets an iPad, a Clio account and a Box.net account. While we use a virtual firm model, we still meet with clients in person, but since everyone works in different parts of Ohio (and soon other states), we use Clio, Google Apps and Box.net to tie everyone together.

How does that work?

We handle litigation and transactional work, so lawyers can collaborate on documents via Box.net and Nextpoint (an ediscovery review tool),which eliminates the need for everyone to be in the same place. And Clio allows us to do everything else, like bill clients, and just easily share information. Clio is everything we need all in one.

Did you use anything before Clio?

Yes. Rocket Matter, High Rise and another 37Signals product. Nothing talked to each other. Then I heard about Clio in a conversation with another lawyer starting a solo firm in Dayton, Ohio, and starting seeing it everywhere. I threw out something on SoloSez about considering Abacus, or more traditional software. Personally, I’m all Mac, so would have had to run a parallel, which presented an unnecessary challenge.

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

Yes. I have. They’ve been great. Catherine on the Clio Support Team, and Brett Burney, who is a Clio Certified Consultant, have all been great.

Help section has 95% of questions I’ve had. And I’m in Catherine’s time zone, so anything else she’s been all over. She’ll have answers back within hours. It’s been good.

Would you recommend Clio to your colleagues?

I do it all the time. Even to people outside the legal industry. Clio can be used for any kind of service-oriented business, like a business coach, that has contacts,  and does invoicing and accounting.

You said before every lawyer at Burton Law gets an iPad. Why is that?

I found a laptop between me and the client makes meetings awkward. I started using an iPad last fall, and found it eliminated that awkwardness while increasing my mobility more than my iPhone. So I decided every lawyer of Burton Law gets an iPad. And an iPad, Clio and Box.net just work well together.

“I decided.” What other decisions have you made about Burton Law?

Hiring. I’ve hired people I know so far that have been referred to me or have come to me, or through conversations that have identified this could be a good fit. I want to grow the firm strategically, but not just to go grow it.

Earning potential. It’s based directly on your work, no hourly billing requirements. Lawyers can set their own fees, alternative or hourly, whatever works best for the particular client. The firm keeps x percentage of billable brought in the door for accounting/book keeping, invoicing, technology, Lexis, marketing — business stuff. The firm lawyers keep the rest.

Entrepreneurial. Burton Law lawyers can develop their practice without the constraints of a firm hierarchy getting in the way, and get to practice law without having to deal with the administration stuff that they aren’t good at or don’t want to deal with.

Administration stuff. Who handles that?

The firm. We use LegalTypist, who handles management of matters in Clio, including invoicing, as well as transcription of documents, and Cybertary, which is a local franchise owner for book keeping and other administration assistant projects. It made sense to break up by expertise since what one doesn’t cover the other does. And it made more sense to do it that way instead of bringing someone on.

Firm does marketing. As with any law firm, each lawyer is responsible for marketing themselves and their services. People hire individuals, people hire people. We have a two pronged approach: Word of mouth and networking events.

Another way to think of it is having all the benefits of being a solo without dealing with all the things you don’t want to deal with by having a bigger firm structure behind you. We can plug a lawyer into the process, with some integration they’re off and running. Firm deals with back end stuff.

Networking events?

Yes. Networking events are good for business. It’s critical to get involved in the community, and the bar associations. It’s a time investment, sure, but if you pay dues but don’t do anything, it doesn’t get you anywhere. You have to put in the time or else it doesn’t work.

So why virtual?

A significant portion of the profession will head this way over the next several years. Lawyers, who are adverse to technology will eventually come to grips that they need to embrace it or they will be left behind.  Plus, the flexibility under the model makes it easier to balance family life with running a law practice.

And finally: Mac or PC?

For the firm, Macs and PCs. Beauty of concept of using Google Apps, Clio and Box.net is that it doesn’t matter what kind of computer you’re using. It all works. So Burton Law lawyers don’t have to leave what is already comfortable for them.

Solo and small law practices often need administrative help, but in many instances, not full time help.  That’s where I come in.  My team of LegalTypist Digital Assistants (DAs) assists my clients in a variety of tasks, from typing notes to organizing contacts.  We specialize in the legal space and know how to best implement a workflow that gets the work done in a quick and efficient manner.  The best way for me to help my clients achieve their goals is by using Web-based technology.  Thus, the second and maybe the most important part of my job becomes helping my clients upgrade to a digital workflow.  By assisting my clients with the implementation of Web-based technology, I provide them with a secure route to access their information from anywhere, as well as cost savings.  Most importantly, I provide them with peace of mind.

I maintain an extremely high standard of ethics, security and quality in my business, and apply the same standards to the technology I select to help my clients manage their information and meet their business needs.  When I look at technology, I make sure to be proactive about security; I understand my clients’ concerns about their information being safe.

To start, all LegalTypist-recommended technology must be U.S.-based or their data storage devices must be located in the U.S.  Once data travels outside the US, it is no longer covered by U.S. privacy laws.  Additionally, I prefer if a web based technology is backed up using geo-redundant servers, so if anything should happen in a particular region that causes the technology’s servers to go down, my clients can still access their information.  Of course, having dedicated servers which are only physically accessible through strict security protocols are another must.

In 2009, I began researching Clio as a practice management solution for my clients.  Clio not only met all of my rigorous security requirements, but it also proved to be a well-designed and highly organized method for my clients to manage their law practice and easily work in tandem with their off-site assistants.

One such client I recommended to Clio was Jessica Foley.  When I began working with Foley she was paying to use a different web based technology to manage her solo law practice, but she wasn’t happy with the software.  According to Foley, “It didn’t have the right setup for me – it wasn’t user friendly and it didn’t have the ability to link to my Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) account, which was one of the things I really needed in my practice management solution.  In a nutshell, it was hard to use and couldn’t keep all my financials organized.”

I suggested to Jessica that she move to Clio and she has been a happy user ever since.  It took her virtually no time to learn to use Clio.  As she says, “Clio is extremely powerful, and more importantly, intuitive to use.”

Foley uses LegalTypist and her assigned DAs to help her manage her law practice and keep track of all her information.  Foley notes, “Clio really opens itself up to multiple users in one account.  I call into LegalTypist and use their technology to dictate notes and then one of the DAs puts my notes in Clio for me.  My LegalTypist DA also enters in contacts for me and links them to each matter.  They also help me keep my calendar straight.  With my LegalTypist DA and Clio, I can finally keep my practice organized and all my information is in one place.  Clio keeps a running tab of my day – I can glance and see what’s going on.  I can add contacts and link matters to my schedule to make it easy for me to organize everything I’m doing and quickly access everything. I never have to root around for information.”

In addition to being able to link and keep track of all her activities, matters and what is going on in her day, Foley also uses Clio to help her track her time and bill her clients.  She keeps track of her billable time using Clio Express, a desktop application for time and expense tracking, and Clio’s timer feature on her iPhone.  Using these features ensures that Foley never loses a minute of billable time, yet adds no additional work to her day.  At the end of the month, all the timesheet information is right there for Foley to bill her clients.”

I recommend Clio to all of my clients who are looking for a better, more efficient and secure way to manage their law practices.  The best part about Clio is that it ensures you don’t have to worry about not being able to find where you saved your notes or put a phone number – all the information is right there.

As LegalTypist, I pride myself on old-fashioned service expertly paired with the right technology to securely and properly get any US-based law firm’s work done.  Clio’s technology aligns with those goals and that’s why I recommend it to my clients.

Today, we’re proud to introduce our first case study: the Law Offices of Place & Hanley, PLLC, a North Carolina law firm based in Southern Pines.

Clio appealed to Place & Hanley as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering that provides time tracking, billing and reporting, client contact and document management, task scheduling, and business intelligence/performance metrics.
“We operate a highly mobile practice where we have to service the legal needs of our clients, as well as run the office and manage our employees,” explained Sara Hanley, partner at Place & Hanley. “Therefore, we are always looking for ways to build efficiency and increase productivity by implementing legal software applications.”

Hanley was thoroughly impressed with Clio’s user-friendly interface and intuitive design. “Within minutes of activating the software, our entire firm was up and using the software with relative ease, storing contacts, case information, appointments, and documents. Time entry was a breeze. And, where it used to take us 3 to 4 days to generate our bills, with Clio, the whole process took less than 2 hours.”

Clio delivered on the issue of affordability as well. As Hanley pointed out, “For an affordable monthly cost we’ve bought ourselves access to Clio, unlimited technical support and upgrades, and we’ve alleviated the need to maintain our own systems or to worry about backing up the information stored in Clio.”
Place & Hanley also selected Clio because of its secure online access to data from anywhere, with bank-grade encryption, frequent backup policy and escrow provision. Additionally, Hanley notes that Clio’s customer service resolved issues quickly and demonstrated commitment to customer’s needs by incorporating her suggestions and requests into the product.

“We’re firmly committed to delivering the best web-based practice management solution for solo and small law firms,” said Jack Newton, President of Themis Solutions. “We will continue to evolve and improve Clio by actively incorporating features requested by our users.”

About Themis Solutions and Clio
Themis Solutions Inc. is based in Vancouver, British Columbia. With cooperation from the Law Society of British Columbia, the company has developed its flagship productCliowhich is aweb-based SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) practice management systemfor solo and small firm attorneys. For more information, visit www.goclio.com.

About the Law Offices of Place & Hanley, PLLC
The Law Offices of Place & Hanley, PLLC, is a boutique law firm based in Southern Pines, North Carolina. The firm handles cases in securities and commodities litigation, family law and wills/trusts. Place & Hanley serves clients in North Carolina and Florida. For more information, visit http://www.placeandhanley.com/.