Recall I attended the Clio Cloud Conference 2023 (CLIO Con) recently. It was a very full event.  They had the standard announcements: I say “standard” because when you go to an electronics/technology conference, you expect to hear about the new products and features.  And as I had blogged recently, CLIO had plenty to share – new features to their Law Practice Management (LPM) platform now and next year!  But lawyers and legal professionals were not just going to a tech show to see the new shiny products; attendees wanted to learn more about their LPM of choice.  And CLIO Con wholistically met their needs!

The conference was more than announcing new features like you might expect at an Apple or Samsung product event.  (The opening and closing sessions definitely had the polish of an Apple product announcement). You can see from their agenda, CLIO Con provided use-case sessions, presentations on the tech issues of today and tomorrow, and actual hands-on training and follow-along sessions through workshops and on their vendor floor.  CLIO Con had the right mix!

The ABA Techshow has had similar presentations and overview sessions.  But it needs more hands-on or follow-along training.  This has been a complaint of mine over the years – don’t show me what can be done, i.e., the final product, without showing me how to do it.  (The vendor sessions provided on the vendor floor are not enough to get a real feel of the various platforms - only a cursory overview to entice new customers for further investigation.)  After attending my first ABA LP Division meeting, it’s my understanding that the ABA is going to provide more detailed presentations at next year’s Techshow - so stay tuned to my 2024 ABA Techshow reports early next year.

CLIO’s competitors need to start their own conferences. The various CRMs/LPMs platforms have similar and different uses, functions, and third-party integrations. So, as potential clients need to screen their next attorney, attorneys need to vet their CRM/LPM platform.  It greatly helps lawyers to have it all pulled together and to be immersed with like-minded people at one event  - it gives the potential/new/current user a holistic sense of how a particular platform can serve their practice.  Quite frankly, if the other platforms are not going to do something similar, they are going to be left in the dust by CLIO.

The event had the enthusiasm of a Saturn Car dealership without the fanaticism (no offense to any current or previous Saturn car owners). It was a positive event. I am not a CLIO user, but I did learn some ideas on how I may want to improve my own CRM/LPM platform with third-party integration and use cases. I will consider CLIO a strong contender if I decide to change platforms.

For the record, I asked for and received a press pass for the event.  If other platforms start their own conferences, I will certainly do my best to attend and report on the similarities and differences between them and CLIO.  Until that happens, and quite frankly, even if other platforms start to do their own conferences, I'd encourage any attorney, CLIO user or not, to attend the next CLIO Con: It is a polished event where you can learn more about what LPMs can do for your firm, get ideas for what you want out of your platform, and maybe you'll find that CLIO does or does not meet your needs.

MTC.