Clio

Pros

this practice management system is pretty robust overall for tracking and organizing docs

Cons

It isnt the most user friendly and isnt the most cost effective for smaller firms and companies

Pros

Clio is a fantastic information-gathering tool and is close to being a one-stop-shop for everything we need pertaining to our clients. the upcoming rollout of a new communications tab should help to sort this information further.

Cons

Client intake is a tedious process. Something as simple as being about to mark clients as spouses/life partners and copying over address and other basic information would go a long way to help speed things up. as of now, we make three contacts for every matter (the married couple as well as each spouse).

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Clio

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

Clio is always innovating, but they do not hesitate to pass along the cost for such innovation to the customer. There is a whole suite of "add-ons" to choose from. But it feels like nickel-and-diming users for features and enhancements. Imagine if Google or Microsoft charged a fee every time there was a software update. That is how it seems to work at Clio. Don't believe the advertised price. If you want a fully-functional practice management platform (i.e., Clio Manage + Clio Grow), the price is going to be closer to $200 per month. That does not include Drafting and Duo (AI).

Cons

The machines are in control at Clio, not the humans. Certain functions, once entered and/or executed by the user, cannot be undone--even by the software developers and engineers. So you have to be triply trepidatious when entering data. If you get something wrong, your whole organizational scheme can fall into chaos.

Support is outsourced, largely to India. When you call in, you get that call-center vibe, including and especially the "I'm sorry, sir, but..." mantra (the "I'm sorry routine"). They will not go the extra mile to problem-solve and come up with creative solutions to fix what is a very common issue.

Clio is a captive sales scheme. They want you to invest time and money in a closed subscription-model ecosystem that, over time, will get more and more expensive--yet commensurately more difficult to disinvest from given all the time it takes to build your processes and workflows that will not be cross-compatible to other platforms. The lifetime investment in Clio will be huge.

The company is based in Canada. They have no offices in the United States.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

Efficient for case management, designed for easy use and the most responsive team I’ve ever seen for management application.

Cons

I would like to have more options for my calendar (more like a daytimer feel) with a calendar view that supports tasks management and notes.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Clio

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

Very easy to navigate. The resource center gives lots of information when you don't know how to do something. Very happy with how user friendly it is. The document management and use of docusign has been excellent

Cons

Not being able to mark invoices as sent via USPS. Not all of our clients use email. Not being able to pay multiple invoices via the matter, and having to navigate to the billing page. On the billing page, not being able to search via the client/matter number. Only can search by name. Not being able to search clients by balance when someone other than the client pays the invoice with no identifiable reference. Less third party crossovers would be nice as well. I would like to see a more developed Clio for clients desktop app/website/portal. I think our clients would really utilize communicating with the attorney more through a portal then an app on the phone.

Pros

Ease of use and so many options
Document storage client connecting trust and more

Cons

The cost per user is high and is based and billed in Us funds.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Clio

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

The user interface is very intuitive and easy to use.

Cons

The Tasks and Messaging could be more robust in Clio Manage and the phone app needs to better resemble the desktop version.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Clio

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

Clio gets the job done. Document uploading, e-signing documents, and a client communication portal, you name it.

Cons

Pricey service as you add more licenses within the firm.

Pros

Being able to manage time, billing, documents, and client communication in one platform.

Cons

The price -- it's really expensive, and it just keeps going up.

Pros

What I like most is how versatile the program is and that you can customize and build it out to your needs

Cons

What I like least is that some of the features are not as intuitive as the competitors.

Pros

Extremely user friendly. You can tailor the platform to meet your firms particular needs regarding your area of practice.

Cons

Duplicate Contacts when logging emails. I believe that is being fixed.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

The ease of use and the integrations with third party software

Cons

The cost per user compared to other legal case management software.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

Very accurate and reliable software. Customer service is very responsive. they appear to take suggestions well for enhancements.

Cons

Minor complaints about user access/authorizations. However, software roadmap contemplates fixes.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Clio

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

We love that we have all data, participants, documents, contacts, email/communication journaling, calendaring all in one place. The mobile app is great for on the go use and tracking time when you are away from the office. The client portal is a great tool for tracking what the client has provided and what is still needed. The time Clio saves us in administrative work has been invaluable.

Cons

Mapping with Quick Books does not match up the best. Some of the integrations are still work in progress. No integration with MyPleadings.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Clio

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

It’s easy to use and covers everything I need it to do. From letter/document creation to billing and invoices. Everything is centralised in one place for accurate record and ease of access.

Cons

It’s very time intensive to set up all the features in the manner you need the system to function to align with your business and there’s not really a guided process for this which would be helpful as some of the set up features can be tricky. It would be helpful to be assigned someone when you first sign up and for them to help you actually set things up the way you need them to be. I also can’t link my emails to Clio as my email:outlook was purchased through a third part (Go Daddy) but I was not aware this was going to be a problem so it would have been helpful if that that was clarified from the outset when I first spoke to Clio so I would have known.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Clio

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

Everything is all in one place. A matter can be managed completely within Clio.

Cons

The ineffectiveness of the Reports feature.

Pros

I have demo'd a bunch of law practice management software providers, Clio is by far the best. It isn't a perfect system, but it does the job. The two way texting, client portal, and customization are hard to beat.

Cons

Two of my biggest pain points are flat fee payment plans and notes. I would like to see a feature where we could just easily type a quick status that does not need a dedicated note entry.

Flat fee payment plans there has to be a better solution than me manually figuring out the payment plan and due dates. MyCase automates this, Clio should be able to figure this out too.

Pros

Clio has been great to track billable time and expenses, and sharing documents (including LARGE attachments like videos.). Calendaring is great as you can link the event to a matter and invite users, including clients and other parties. Setting reminders is also great to help you take on task and meet your deadlines. Customer support is very responsive, and helpful. Clio Grow has also been great to use, wish the editing of the documents and forms was more user friendly--it has already gotten better since we started using Clio (there is now the ability to add a table!)

Cons

There have been bugs that have taken some time to correct. Timer issues (starting and stopping, you need to really pay attention that it is properly recorded this); additionally, the Clio calendar becomes un-synced with out Outlook calendar(s) and that is a huge issue (currently) as we have to double record.

Pros

I like that it is a comprehensive CRM system that is geared towards legal. I can invoice with it, add new clients, retain documents, generate documents, you name it.

Cons

I think some features could be a little more user-friendly, but I think they are constantly working on that. It takes time to get all the bugs out of any technology.

Pros

Clio used to have responsive and helpful customer support, but that was years ago! It was once easy to track and link payments to client matters, run useful reports, and handle cloud-based documents, but recently the software has seen nothing but bugs.

Cons

Clio is plagued with bugs and its cloud-based document system stops working entirely every few weeks or so, requiring a complete reinstallation of the desktop launcher. Clio also, without any notice at all, removed certain features that allowed for the linking of card payments from Clio Scheduler (a sister program), retroactively recharacterizing ALL prior card payments in a completely different manner and ruining my firm's entire accounting system overnight. Clio tech support is worthless and is never aware of any issues brought up to them about the software, no matter how debilitating the issue may be, and they endlessly put you on hold to "talk ton their team" while stalling and asking for more screenshots of the issue, only to tell you a week later that they can't help you. The software has fallen far from grace and serves only to be a very expensive patchwork of buggy integrations, paired with tech support that doesn't understand any of the details of their own program.

Pros

We like the integrations and ease of use.

Cons

Automation with the custom fields is lacking and we have to use secondary programming that still does not meet our needs. The reporting mechanisms could be better as well. We would also prefer some better integrations with Clio Grow and the inbox with the Quick Intake form.

Pros

Clio is intuitive and greatly assists me in managing my firm. The dashboard is organized in such a way that I can easily track overall firm finances and open matters. Additionally, the ability to create tasks and sync Clio with my firm's Microsoft account expands the functionality of the product.

Cons

I really do not have any complaints about Clio. When I attempted to use Clio Grow, I simply did not have the time to create the templates that are designed to make the product more valuable to client intake.

Pros

User friendly from the calendar, to reports, to billing and client details.

Cons

Looking for more customization when creating matters

Pros

I love how easy Clio makes it to do nearly all of my day-to-day practice management from invoicing to trust accounting. The calendaring / court rules and document automation is also great.

Cons

I didn't love that they increased the processing fee for Clio Payments not very long after I signed up for it. They did agree to freeze the rate for a few months until it goes up, but I was disappointed they increased it in the first place.

Pros

Ease of use and reliability. Entering time is the bane of every lawyers existence. This makes it about as easy as it’s going to get.

Cons

No real downsides. The only area I can think of which might be improved is the ease of entering contact information for multiple clients on the same matter.

Pros

Easy to Use, Does literally everything I can want as an attorney. Great use of technology to streamline my practice and make normal tasks take seconds (drafting, reminding clients of court dates, etc). Very quick response time from their tech support, and most of the people are very nice and courteous even if they can't help you with what you want. The fact that they continuously update, make changes, and add features that we either wanted or didn't know we wanted until now, especially for such a low monthly price.

Cons

The aesthetics of some of the features. Some of the features don't work as well as I want or there are little glitches on my computer (windows that pop up saying things I don't quite understand as a lay person haha), but these can likely be solved by talking to tech support. Some of the tech support people aren't that helpful, or will refer you to call their hotline so they can set up a Zoom call so you can share your screen and they can see the problem, which takes a whole lot longer than I would like. But generally they do solve the problem pretty easily.

Pros

Completely changes how I handle matters and communicate with clients and staff. One central location for all things "client". I like that Clio is big enough for developers to want to work with Clio and there are hundreds of integrations that can be used with Clio. The customer support is always right there when needed, helpful and instructive. The knowledge "library" is vast and always helpful.

Cons

My only complaint about Clio is even though the onboarding training was extensive and helpful, this was such a big change for me and my firm we literally had to rethink our "workflows". I wish there was available from Clio a service that we could hire to sort of guide us and tell us what changes we should be making to get ready for Clio. I did end up speaking with a consultant and it will be fine I just wish at the beginning of the process Clio offered this service (maybe they do and I missed it).

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

Clio is a great foundation for our firm. I am a long time Clio user, over 13 years now. I have seen it grow and improve. Some things have stayed the same - excellent customer service, minimal to no downtime. It replaces at least one full time employee with the automated reminders, calendaring, etc. Not only do I organize my digital client files in Clio, I track all my payments and trust accounting, I am able to have team member accountability through task tracking, we have regular and effective communication with the clients through the Clio Client portal. When I'm using Clio, it helps me be a better lawyer, it helps me focus more on my clients, and keep my clients happy through great communication.

Cons

While it has all the basic features in a package to choose from, there are parts you have to pay to add on. Clio Grow for intaking new clients, meshes great with Clio Manage but it does have an extra cost. The document template feature that is built in is okay, and the add-on Clio Draft is supposed to be a lot better but it's at additional cost and a bit difficult for me to intuitively figure out. It's costly to have Clio, but it does save having an extra employee and saves from missing a deadline and having client's complain due to lack of communication, so to me it's worth the cost.

Pros

I love the expansive growth coming down the pipeline. I started with simple document automations with Manage and Clio continues to acquire new features to aid in running my firm and continues to refine those features. Along with the 200+ integrations, Clio dominates the market for a reason

Cons

It used to be a bit unsophisticated in terms of functionality but they listen to their clients and they get better every day

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

I was really impressed with how Clio simplifies everything. I was searching for a replacement for my previous legal management software and came accross Clio and thought we'd give it a try. It's truly a breath of fresh air compared to what we're used to. The ability to automate client intake and manage cases has made our work much more efficient. Also the integrations with other tools we already use made it so it wasn't like starting from scratch.

Cons

The mobile app seems to have limitations compared to the desktop version, which can be frustrating when traveling and accessing information on the go. I called into support and they were able to help me with what I needed though away from main workstation, and hear that the app is being improved currently.

Pros

It's one of the more widely used software so if you're hiring new legal staff, they might have had some exposure to it. At times they can be responsive to requests make helpful changes to the product but mostly, you get stonewalled.

Cons

Well, there are several things. We have to pay for an extra license for our bookkeeper to use the product and other software companies don't do that -it's a hidden cost. Necessary product upgrades take long with Clio and some functionality is lacking For example, Clio was far behind the competition to include an effective client portal (they started with one that was not user-friendly at all) and although they are making improvements with it, it's still is not up to par and its functionality compared to other case management software systems.

We paid extra for use of their CRM called Clio Grow and its a primitive software compared to Salesforce, Hubs, monday sale CRM, pipedrive, etc. It lacks functionality like texting your potential clients. It only partially integrates with the case management portion of Clio. Worst of all, after setting up a document template in Clio Grow for client intake with our office (30 people), Clio restricted some of the functionality of that document making it even more awkward, to the point where it's unusable for us. It would've been simple to fix it and change the functionality back to the way it was just a few days ago but, I got stonewalled. No one's responding.

Pros

Robust platform that integrates time-keeping, billing, write-offs, and lawyer productivity seamlessly. Conflict checking. Competent, authorized human customer service is truly just a phone call away - no difficult menus and queuing music.

Cons

Document filing/storage area by matter is a bit clunky, as is the Clio-generated Client email - though it is conceptually a great idea it doesn't work smoothly in practice.

Pros

Clio is very user friendly. The company is extremely responsive to client input with regards to product enhancements.

Cons

I honestly cannot think of anything I don’t like.

Pros

user-friendly and support is efficient and effective!

Cons

I would like to integrate quickbooks access with the general account or perhaps more of an accounting feature within Clio.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Clio

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

Clio is intuitive and provides excellent document management, client relationship management, timekeeping and billing all in one platform for a reasonable price with no long term commitments.

Cons

On occasion Clio will have glitches - connectivity issues. When that happens, we're at a standstill. Fortunately, it doesn't occur often, and when it does it is short lived.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Clio

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

Customer service is extremely helpful and responsive, our representative is also very responsive and knowledgeable. Programs are fairly easy to use. Transition from previous software was easier than anticipated

Cons

We have a different way of inputting payments so it was a bit cumbersome but we have now learned how to work around these issues

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Clio

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

Ease of use, e-signing with ease, invoices can be unique to our firm with templates for each client, cleaning up others time entries are simple as admin, and it just overall makes my job more efficient and enjoyable.

Cons

It needs work on adding my state laws and guidelines into the calendar. For example if I have a CT slip and fall case, it would be nice if the calendar prompted me to enter all my scheduling order dates, remind me when discovery is due per statute, etc… also an in office chat feature would be nice too! When we save emails from outlook the organization is not helpful for some attorneys and we cannot edit that. Also we need AI integrations!

Pros

- Clean layout
- Straight-forward interface
- Friendly Customer Service

Cons

- Basic Billing tab
- Too many Eservice fees
- Not enough features

Pros

Can access my client's files from anywhere safely and securely.

Cons

Not connected to electronic filing system in my state.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

i like that I am able to streamline the intake process in Clio Grow and then pass the baton to my colleagues seamlessly in Clio Manage and Clio Draft

Cons

There are still some things that need improvement, but i love that the support team is always so helpful and try to find workarounds for me, and then they take our suggestions seriously and send those to their design team to try to figure out how to put those suggestions in action.

Pros

The ease of having everything in one place and the ability for clients to make timely payments, often the day they receive the invoice

Cons

It would be nice to pass the credit card fees on to the client automatically when they make the payment

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

It captures all of the information needed to work on a file in one place and allows me to be much more productive.

Cons

Clio does not yet work with Connecticut Probate Courts to be able to upload documents directly to their system.

Pros

So many integrations and so user friendly.

Cons

Trust accounting with Quickbooks Online but we have not started using the newest update to help make this easier

Pros

I've been using Clio Manage since I started by firm in 2020 and find it to be very responsive to my needs. I've recently also started to use Clio Grow which I hadn't really thought would make a whole lot of difference to me, but I couldn't have been more wrong. I enjoy the interface, the support is good, it does what I need it to. Highly recommend it.

Cons

The initial onboarding was great, but once you're up and running, you're left alone. Fair enough, but I suspect there are features that I could be using and would be beneficial to me, that I don't know about either because they didn't exist when I was onboarded, or I didn't need them initially and I've forgotten they exist. This could be fixed by a 6 month review or 1 year review, but it's not critical. Perhaps for firms with more users/wider range of services, they'd pick this up and follow it up with Clio. It's hard to follow up on something you don't know exists.

Pros

It makes running my law office a breeze. I can't imagine practicing without it.

Cons

I honestly can't think of anything I would change about it.

Pros

Easy to learn and a lot of capabilities if you don't mind "add ons"

Cons

Some of their solutions were a little unconventional, ie if an atty wants two different rates I was advised to change the rate case by case. I thought there should have been a better solution

Pros

Having my client information, cases, documents, templates and invoicing under one system is a dream come true.

Cons

I wish Clio had more in-house created integrations with apps versus using services like Zapier to make the connections and send data from apps or services to Clio. Zapier can be very clumsy and if something gets updated in Clio's software you sometimes have to rebuild the Zapier.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Clio

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

For a reasonable price, Clio includes a number of useful features in one package: DocuSign capacity, billing, trust accounting, document creation, hourly billing tracking, and of course management of cases and case loads.

Cons

Clio's method of running credit card or ACH fees and then tracking them is a bit frustrating. I do appreciate the fact that the fees are not taken from the trust fund.

Pros

Overall Clio is very user friendly. My clients who have commented on the use of Clio have had positive feedback as well. I like that there are training videos and customer service has been great the few times I've called. The integration with my Google Workspace and now having their own credit card processing fees is great too! This year I'm utilizing the Dashboard more, both on Manage and Grow and I do like how it works. It helps me stay productive.

Cons

For sections I haven't used as much, I have difficulty finding my way back to them after stumbling upon them. I would like to be able to attach receipts for reimbursable expenses to client's invoices. I would like to be able to mark client matters and/or client invoices as mail only so I know when to print the invoices and mail them to clients.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Clio

Pros

it has been a software that facilitates daily tasks that could require a lot of time, with clio it is easier to invoice, appointment reminders and have all the documents in one place to access them from anywhere without having to be in the office with the physical documentation
its security and reliability allow you to have all the documents in the cloud with the certainty that nothing will happen to them and they will be protected

Cons

in my use I have not detected anything that I dislike and I feel that everything has worked correctly without causing any problems