Law Technology Today From the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center
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The legaltech industry has grown significantly in recent years, and Clio remains at the forefront of this growth. After raising a combined US$360 million in our Series D and Series E investment rounds, the latter resulting in a $1.6 billion valuation, Clio earned unicorn status.
Most recently, we announced Clio’s centaur status—a title reserved for private SaaS companies that achieve more than US$100 million in annual recurring revenue. Our success has helped us shape the investment and acquisition space for legaltech by investing heavily in our partners and acquiring three companies to expand Clio’s capabilities.
When Clio launched in 2007, we had a bold vision for the future of legal—one that many thought was impossible at the time. We were the first cloud-based practice management system and are proud to have been the industry leader for small to medium-sized firms ever since. As law firms have increasingly embraced new levels of technology adoption, especially in the past two years, we have an added responsibility to set the tone for the future—and to help ensure that the technology shaping legal experiences also serves the greater good.
Having led Clio’s vision from the start, I wanted to take a moment to share some thoughts on what I believe the future holds for legaltech, and how Clio will continue our mission to transform the legal experience for all.
Bringing built-in payment processing to the most comprehensive practice management solution with Clio Payments
Eight months ago, we launched Clio Payments, our native payments platform, allowing customers to manage the entire legal client journey—from the very beginning of client intake all the way through payment collection—through one secure, compliant, and trusted system.
Before building Clio Payments, we looked at several opportunities to accelerate our product development and explored partnerships with several fintech companies who had set their sights on the legaltech market. Ultimately, building these capabilities in-house made the most sense—we determined this would yield the best quality and most seamless solution for our customers.
Our customers’ response to Clio Payments confirmed we made the right decision. We’ve seen rapid adoption among new and existing customers—thousands have opted to switch to Clio Payments in the last month alone—and their feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
Building a unified customer experience with Clio
The future of legaltech is rooted in building seamless and frictionless product experiences for law firms. Customers want legal operating systems that are easy-to-use, affordable, and tailored for the unique needs of law firms regardless of their size or practice area. Our product strategy is anchored in innovation—we will accelerate new offerings based not only on what customers want today, but what they’ll need tomorrow.
By focusing on the needs of our customers and their clients, we’ve built a successful, industry-leading system that is easy, affordable, and helps law firms thrive. The launch of Clio Payments is an example of how we’re giving customers access to more of what’s essential to running a profitable legal practice—all within Clio.
Clio’s integration partners
Since starting Clio, we’ve worked with countless lawyers and know that no two law firms are alike. Law firms must be able to customize workflows and tailor software capabilities to specific firm goals and client experiences. We also know that different practice areas have unique needs—whether processes, programs, or service—and that these needs can vary widely between law firm employees.
As the only true platform in legaltech, Clio allows customers to modify their software with over 200 specialized app integrations. While Clio gives law firms everything they need to manage their legal practice, we recognize that needs can change. Firms grow, practice areas shift, and processes evolve. Our integration partners are helping to rapidly build for those unique needs—to help firms thrive with Clio in as many ways possible.
To further nurture Clio’s partner ecosystem, we host the Launch//Code Developer contest, run our Clio Ventures program, and connect technology providers to the broader legal market each year at the Clio Cloud Conference. This event has grown to become the largest, most exciting legal conference in the world.
All of this was made possible when we launched Clio’s open API—another industry-first—in 2012, creating a unique space in the legaltech market for innovation that has benefited countless firms.
Leading the market
As we’ve seen over the last couple of years, law firms have endless opportunities to grow and innovate. At the same time, clients have come to expect new standards from law firms—whether it’s how they communicate with legal professionals, pay bills, or receive legal services. Much of the private equity investment we’ve seen in legaltech has been in reaction to this.
Clio’s vision—and my personal investment in that vision—has been wholly focused on providing cloud-based legal technology that helps law firms succeed. In the years to come, we will advance Clio’s core functionalities while investing in our partners as we continue building a lasting 100-year company that will transform the legal experience for all.
Clio is the largest, most trusted legaltech brand, and we’ll continue to trailblaze with innovations that realize our vision for a cloud-based future that will transform the legal experience for all. We have the experience, knowledge, and resources to innovate faster for our customers and deliver the leading technology platform for the legal industry.
If you’re at all interested in learning more about what we’re building—or how Clio benefits law firms—I highly encourage you to reach out to someone on our knowledgeable and passionate team.
Sincerely,
Jack Newton
CEO and Founder of Clio
