Clio Advances Speed and Access to Legal Services with Transformative Payments Product Launch

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Oct 26, 2021, 11:30 ET

The most advanced payments system in legaltech features rapid processing capabilities and real-time financial oversight for lawyers–a substantial leap forward as Clio constructs the industry's first legal operating system

VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - At the ninth annual Clio Cloud Conference, Jack Newton, CEO and Founder of Clio, unveiled the new Clio Payments platform, a foundational payments technology built for the legal industry's most advanced legaltech solution. Clio Payments enables lawyers to facilitate client-centered payment options, easing the billing and collections process while offering secure and compliant online payment choices for their clients. The announcement strengthens Clio's vision to build the core technology enabling greater access to essential legal services.

The new Clio Payments makes it easy for lawyers to get paid, and for clients to pay their lawyer. (CNW Group/Clio)

The new Clio Payments is a major step in Clio’s development of the industry’s first legal operating system. (CNW Group/Clio)

"Through our work with tens of thousands of legal professionals, we know that the most frequent point of friction in attorney-client relationships is collections," said Jack Newton. "Financial matters bear a heavy burden on firm operations, time, and revenue. Streamlining this single touchpoint has the potential to fundamentally change where legal professionals spend their time—and who can access legal services. We see this as a critical juncture in realizing our mission to transform the legal experience for all."

The expansion into fintech marks a defining chapter in Clio's product roadmap as it builds cloud-based and client-centered technologies for all the major touchpoints legal professionals have when using Clio. With the launch of the new Clio Payments, the company is laying the groundwork to provide the most complete, holistic operating system for legal professionals, enabling them to operate more effectively—and more successfully—for years to come.

The Most Advanced Payments System in Legal

Starting today, the new Clio Payments will be made available in Clio Manage and will offer lawyers real-time financial oversight in less time. With Clio Payments, legal professionals can access essential financial capabilities:

Payments are recorded automatically in Clio and sync to an accounting platform, such as QuickBooks or Xero—saving lawyers precious time and effort.
Clio maintains compliance with trust accounting rules so legal professionals can send trust payment requests and perpetuate evergreen retainers with ease.
Law firms receive transparency in payment transaction fees. With one flat and simple transaction fee for all card types and a flat rate for Check transactions, lawyers can securely accept any debit, credit card, or eCheck (ACH) payments with the confidence that there will be no surprises on their financial statements.

Lawyers who have adopted a legal practice management software and online payments are successfully optimizing many areas of their practice; saving time by automating workflows and freeing them up to focus on their clients and the law. In fact, the 2021 Legal Trends Report reveals practices that have consistently grown their revenues are more likely (37%) to be using online payment solutions, with 41% more likely to use client portals, and 46% more likely to use client intake and client relationship management (CRM) solutions.

A Frictionless Legal Payments Experience

Settling legal fees is one of the highest points of friction in the attorney-client relationship. Lawyers can now facilitate client-centered payment options while streamlining the collections process through time-saving features such as automated payment reminders, templated billing messages, and incentivized payment features including interest rates and discounts.

"The market for legal services has shifted dramatically, and clients are looking for online, flexible payment options," said Jack. "We are committed to delivering to evolved client needs in support of our customers. Building a complete billing and payments suite, which is inherently core to Clio Manage, ensures we're able to innovate on their behalf throughout their most critical client interactions."

Evolved client expectations demand options that are instant, flexible and secure. With the new Clio Payments, paying a lawyer becomes easy. According to the 2021 Legal Trends Report, online options are strongly preferred by consumers (66%), followed by automated payments (61%) and payments via mobile app (61%). At this stage, clients prefer options that prioritize convenience over any direct forms of interaction.

Constructing the Operating System for Legal

The new Clio Payments is an integral building block in Clio's commitment to building the first comprehensive legal operating system.

"As we define Clio's next chapter, we see an opportunity to design the first legal operating system, something that is much larger than one software or integration alone," said Jack. "We are designing a system that will see the foundational cloud-based and client-centered technologies come together to create the fabric that serves the entire industry."

Clio's work in building the legal operating system began a few years ago with the acquisition of Lexicata and the launch of Clio Grow, and most recently, with the acquisition of CalendarRules and Lawyaw. Today's unveiling of the new Clio Payments furthers the construction of the end-to-end system that legal professionals can rely on to deliver access to justice. Clio will continue to develop solutions core to the Clio Suite, while also integrating with, supporting, and seeking out new legal technology opportunities.

The new Clio Payments is now available to law firms located in the USA. Learn more about Clio's new built-in payments functionality at clio.com/payments.

About Clio

Clio is transforming the legal experience for all through cloud-based and client-centred legal technology. Clio has become a company to watch on a global scale after securing a US$6M Series B investment in 2012 by German-based Acton Capital, a CA$20M Series C investment in 2014 by Bessemer Venture Partners and one of the largest investments in legaltech and Canadian history in 2019 with a US$250M Series D funding round led by TCV and JMI Equity. In 2021, Clio made history again by becoming the first legal practice management unicorn globally with a US$110M Series E investment led by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and OMERS Growth Equity. Learn more at clio.com.

SOURCE Clio