Episode 84: Using technology to grow a family law practice with Jason Rice of Dirigo-Divorce.

Get ready to revolutionize your practice as Jason Rice from Dirigo-Divorce joins me to discuss how he uses technology to improve the services he provides to his clients. Jason is a Family Law attorney based in Maine and New England who has harnessed technology to manage his legal practice. He has a deep passion for family law, clearly fostered through his years of legal experience. Jason worked as a Staff Attorney for the 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Tampa, FL, where he assisted judges in various areas, including family law. Jason has also taught Family Law at a community college for nearly ten years and co-authored "Relocations: A Judge's Perspective" with the Honorable Judge Daniel Sleet.

Join Jason and me as we discuss the following three questions and more!

What are three pieces of tech software hardware that solos and small firms might be surprised are not "big firms" only?

What three pieces of tech software and hardware make working with virtual remote services seamless?

What are the top three tips when communicating with clients through an LPM, text, or email?

In our conversation, we cover the following:

[01:11] Jason's Mac-based Legal Practice

[11:00] Essential Tech for Solos and Small Firms

[21:07] Seamless Remote Work: Essential Tools for Virtual Collaboration

[31:14] How to Communicate Effectively with Clients: Texting and Email TipsTop of Form

[34:34] Connect with Jason

Resources:

Connect with Jason:

Hardware mentioned in the conversation:

Software & Cloud Services mentioned in the conversation:

#76: Maximizing Practice Efficiency: Interview with Joshua Lenon at CLIO Con 2023

Join Joshua and I live from the CLIO Con 2023 in Nashville, TN at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. Joshua serves as the Lawyer in Residence at CLIO. Joshua has dedicated considerable efforts to enlightening legal professionals about the potential of technology to improve their practices, simultaneously educating tech companies about the distinctive requirements of the legal field.

Join Joshua and me as we discuss the following three questions & more!

  1. What are the three most common questions attorneys have about cloud computing? And how does CLIO address them?

  2. What are the three most common ethical missteps attorneys make with cybersecurity, and how does CLIO help prevent them?

  3. As we look into the future, what should attorneys be wary of regarding all things Internet in their law practice?

In our conversation, we cover the following:

[01:09] From PCs to Macs: Embracing a Secure and User-Focused Technological Evolution

[03:25] Decoding Cloud Worries: How CLIO Tackles Attorneys' Top 3 Questions on Cloud Computing

[13:12] Ethical Cybersecurity: Navigating Attorney Pitfalls and CLIO's Defensive Strategies

[16:48] Futuristic Legal Tech: Internet's Evolution in Law Practice

[22:18] Data Migration Dilemmas

Resources:

Connect with Joshua:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joshualenon

Email: joshua@clio.com

CLIO Cloud Conference 2023 Introduction Report – Starting at the top with CLIO's CEO Jack Newton!

CLIO CEO Jack Newton welcomes thousands of attendees both in person and virtual to 2023 clio cloud conference!

Jack Newton, CEO of CLIO, started off the two-day Clio Cloud Conference 2023, welcoming its attendees. The conference was clearly not going to be a humdrum CLE with monotonous presentations. The opening was livelier but as well coordinated as an Apple product release event! I believe there were over four thousand (4,000) attendees, with well over two thousand (2,000) in person. They were excited, energetic, and ready to learn!

thousands attend clio con 2023 both in person and online!

Jack welcomed the audience. He shared the story of how CLIO Con has existed for over a decade. Their focus has been on the customer – helping lawyers recapture more time through the ease of a Lawyer Practice Management (LPM) Program. CLIO's goal is to make the administration of a law practice secondary so that lawyers can focus more time on what they are trained for – the practice of law. Jack highlighted CLIO's use of computer automation, software integration with third-party software, and, yes, artificial intelligence.

AI gives attorneys the opportunity to be more human!

Some of the highlights presented at the opening include "CLIO File," which allows customers to file pleadings directly into a court through CLIO. Google Local Service Ads for CLIO allows its customers to "[o]nly pay when a potential lead contacts you through the ad." “Attorney Share” in CLIO for Co-Counsel lets customers share files and folders with co-counsel or even opposing counsel. Although there were many more features discussed (including Automated Workflows, Matter Stages – "are Kanban-style boards that you can use to visualize and track matter progress in Clio Manage," improved e-mail integration with Outlook and Gmail, and many more features!), a key product announcement of great interest was CLIO Duo.

CLIO Duo is an artificial intelligence program baked into CLIO to help its customers "... unlock the potential of their own data, helping them to become even more effective business owners, and drive better outcomes for their [customers]." The first release, with a target date of 2024, will provide CLIO customers with the following:

“Embracing ai is a moral imperative for legal profressionals.”

  • Personalized recommendations to help prioritize efforts for maximum task completion and work efficiency;

  • Reminder prompts for pending bill approvals and overdue tasks;

  • Bill generation based on activities related to a specific client;

  • Document summarization and generation of simple documents;

  • Matter overviews for improved client communications;

  • Conversations with Duo to gain insights on the firm's business performance or to better understand Clio's product capabilities.

CLIO's proprietary AI technology is built on a foundation of privacy and security of its customer's client data. Therefore, lawyers using CLIO's AI should feel at ease knowing their data is protected from the outside world.

my 2023 clio con press pass!

CLIO's focus is on its customers. But this does not mean CLIO’s vision is myopically focused on lawyers. It also considers the viewpoint of its customers' clients. "CLIO Clients" is now offered in Spanish. Clients can pay their bills with Apple Pay and Google Pay. CLIO has enhanced customer-client communications with text message and reminder options. CLIO’s platform aims to make communications, case updates, and payments seamless between its customers and their clients. This kind of automation allows attorneys to recapture time and focus on the legal work they are hired to do - practice law.

Clio is evolving from just a general legal management platform to cater to specific legal practice areas. Jack revealed that Legal Aid and Personal Injury are the first two areas. I recommend potential users to explore and evaluate the new LPM or a similar Client Relations Management (CRM) platform before transitioning to it.

The goal of an attorney tech show or conference should be creating a venue to help us find the right technology for our firm or practice. Jack notes that although you can’t create more time, you can recapture more time by working efficiently. And that is what lawyers should leave with from attending any legal tech show. This year's attendees (and the general public) can leave with CLIO's 2023 Legal Trends Report - packed rich with "... valuable insights that can help you navigate the rapidly changing landscape of the legal world."

Team Clio Enthusiastically Launches CLIO Con 2023!

I'll comment next week on whether I think CLIO hit the mark. The people at CLIO seem to have succeeded already with its very informative and detailed opening. Stay tuned!