clio — Legal Practice Pro

The Search For A Perfect Law Practice Management Solution

July 22, 2009 By Long Duong

I’ve been pulling my hair out lately trying to fix my version of PCLaw, a comprehensive practice management solution for both daily client management and back office accounting (which replaces Quickbooks.)

PCLAW is a bit glitchy at times and while their support is excellent, the annual maintenacne support costs have shot up quite a bit since Lexis bought the rights to the software.

So I’m looking for the next best comprehensive solution and would prefer web based options over downloadable software.

Clio has shown serious promise however, I still need at a minimum, a proper Quickbooks export or some other back office accounting solution to work seamlessly with Clio.

Rocket Matter has what appears to be a great product as well, however they apparently have no option for a free trial account (though they do offer a free guided demo preview but I prefer to tinker around myself.) They have also increased their pricing across the board which is probably good for business but makes me hesitate. I would probably need 3 accounts which would run about $160/month! Too rich for my taste but nevertheless a solid product I’m sure.

I chatted over email with Andrew Flusche about his choice to go with Freshbooks but I prefer to have my an integrated trust accounting system built in.

What Does A Perfect Law Practice Management System Contain?

Here’s what I need:

1. Client/Contact Management

2. Daily income/expense tracking

3. Attractive, user friendly note taking system

4. Integrated back office accounting OR export system to Quickbooks, etc)

5. Trust accounting solution

Here’s what I want:

6. Basecamp like communication with clients

7. Web based document assembly (a pipe dream)

PCLAW has everything except for item #3. But it’s glitchy and frustrating (infuriating) at times.

Filed Under: Office Technology Tagged With: clio, freshbooks, pclaw, rocket matter, Rocketmatter

Clio Update: Go "Off-Cloud" with Desktop Application Clio Express

April 4, 2009 By Long Duong

If you haven’t heard the news, Clio just keeps getting better.

Clio (http://goclio.com) just released Clio Express – a desktop application that allows you to track time if you’re offline or out outside of a reliable wifi connection.

It was a logical next step and presumably a big draw for mobile lawyers and road warriors.

From the Clio Blog:

Clio Express is a desktop application for accessing Clio’s time tracking and expense tracking. Previously, Clio users were not able to track time without access to the web. Now with Clio Express, whether traveling on a plane, or sitting in the office, attorneys and staff can log time and record expenses from the desktop, either with or without an internet connection, using the intuitive easy-to-use interface for which Clio is well-known.

There’s never been a better time to consider web based practice management. Solo and small firm lawyers, especially “just shingled” lawyers are practicing in an exciting time where overhead is getting cheaper and technology is getting better. There is no question that Clio’s doing its part to stay at the crest of this wave.

Filed Under: Virtual Law Office Tagged With: clio, web based practice management

Clio's big announcement: Client Collaboration

February 2, 2009 By Long Duong

clientconnect

Just got exciting news from Jack Newton of the Themis Solutions/Clio team: they are rolling out “Clio ClientConnect“ today at LegalTech 2009 in New York.

Clio ClientConnect 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. ClientConnect 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.

I talked to Jack about a Basecamp like feature back when I first learned about Clio. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one! This 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 but we’ll have to wait for the official rollout.

Clio is a web based practice management application that can be accessed from any internet connection (so it is “platform independent”).

I covered the early release news of RocketMatter which beat Clio to the punch with good initial PR, but Clio has made things very interesting. Clio ClientConnect will likely be a real crowd pleaser and possible game-changer.

I haven’t seen it in action yet, but the team at Clio is surely jumping out of their pants to show it off at LegalTech New York today. Stay tuned for screenshots and a screencast.

Read the whole story: Announcing Client Collaboration and Online Bill Paying: Clio ClientConnect.

Filed Under: Office Technology Tagged With: basecamp, client collaboration, clientconnect, clio, freshbooks, goclio, Practice Management, Rocketmatter

Introducing a New Web Based Case Management for Solo and Small Law Firms

February 21, 2008 By Grant Griffiths

Like many of you, I have been frustrated with the lack of law office specific case management software for the solo and small law firm. Oh, sure there is software out there. And some of it is great. And you have to mortgage the house and first born to afford it. Now there is an alternative. And let me tell you this. I have tried this new legal software and it is quite wonderful.

Most solos and small firms have embraced the use of web based technology the last few years. By taking advantage of this trend, Rocket Matter has developed a web-based practice management software. It is accessible from anywhere with Internet access. You can use it on a Mac, PC, iPhone, or even a Linux machine. You can log on and bill time from the office, home, or on the road.

The crew at Rocket Matter designed it to be as simple to use as possible. Your calendar, contact manager, matter manager, and time and billing software is rolled into one integrated, enjoyable product. You can generate invoices for all your billable matters with a single click of the mouse.

Their “Bill as you Work”™ technology captures your billable time as you go about your day. There is no need to total up hours at the end of the billing cycle or to figure out where your time went.

Getting started is easy. You don’t have to buy servers. You don’t have to pay someone to install Rocket Matter. You don’t even have to buy licenses. You only pay for the number of users you want, and that’s it. Best of all, you can save the likely $8000 you’d have to pay for a traditional practice management setup.

With Rocket Matter, you can sleep well, knowing you have daily backups and security managed for you automatically. And since Rocket Matter’s servers are in a redundant, premier data center, you have an instant disaster-recovery plan.

I encourage all of you to explore this great new product further. Sign up for an exclusive invitation and view a preview of the product at RocketMatter. Subscribe to their Product Updates to follow RocketMatter developments.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: clio, cloud computing, Rocketmatter, saas