Clio vs. Prevail Case Management System

Clio allows our law firm to track all aspects of a matter, such as documents, emails, time entries, tasks, and notes, in one place. This is ideal for our mid-sized law firm, which handles general litigation, personal injury, and family law. A feature we appreciate is the client portal's secure way to share updates, documents, and invoices.

Incentivized

Prevail software is well-suited for tracking all interactions in each client's case. It keeps all information easily at hand. The version we use is cloud-based, so the information can be accessed from anywhere an internet connection is available. The area, where we would really like to see improvement, is if it would work directly with Gmail, as it already does with Outlook.

• Provides an interface with NextChapter Bankruptcy.
• Provides an interface with the forms on our website and landing pages to allow for easy transmission of potential clients into our Clio system from these sources with little human intervention.
• Its billing, invoicing and payment integration makes the billing cycle for clients easier.

Incentivized

• Document merging, so numerous communications templates (letters and emails) can be merged with the appropriate names and addresses for a particular case and the items are ready to send within seconds.
• Prevail tracks a history of interactions on a case, so you can find a record of every letter, email, phone call, notice, hearing, etc. on one page.
• Prevail tracks all billing on a client's case, including billing from the firm, from care providers, other service providers, etc.

• Document management. It's still far easier for me to create Word templates and just use Word.
• Centralized filing of client files. Like I said, I use Word. I work on a Mac and use Mac's tag structure. Clio should find a way to gather all files that have a certain tag and allow me to access them through Clio. Instead, I use Hazel and DropBox.
• Case planning and budgeting. I use OmniFocus for project management, a self-created Excel spreadsheet for project budgeting and a cloud-based service for Gantt charts. How hard would it be to add robust project management tools to Clio?
• Search feature for stored documents and information. Evernote has Clio beat hands-down, but I don't put client-sensitive information (only caselaw) on Evernote.
• Case notes. This feature may be useful for high-volume practices, but I never use it.

Incentivized

• It would be nice if Prevail worked directly with Gmail instead of just with Outlook.
• It would be nice if it was easier to adapt reports or set up new ones.
• It would be nice if all attachments to a client's file could be placed in that client's set of directories so the items could be easily found, even if Prevail was not running.

We have been able to streamline our task management and everyday office procedures by using Clio to its fullest potential. We have a hire client retention rate because we can easily keep track of leads and follow ups. Clio Draft is saving us time on drafting legal documents and correspondence espondence. Overall, we are able to save time and money on everything tasks

Incentivized

Clio is intuitive and easy to learn. Even new staff or attorneys with limited tech experience can quickly navigate through tasks, matters, billing, and calendars. This reduces training time and increases productivity, especially in a busy mid-sized law firm. Because it’s cloud-based, Clio can be accessed from any device, anywhere. Whether I am working in the office, at home, or in court, I have full access to my cases, documents, and time entries.

Incentivized

It's great, except for the lack of working directly with Gmail. As I've already mentioned, the document merge feature is excellent and saves countless hours of typing. The cloud-hosted option is liberating in that you don't have to make sure you have, in your briefcase, every document you'll need for a meeting, hearing, deposition, etc. And the statute date warning feature is also important.

When I contact them, I am told that the person who can help me cannot be reached but that I should call back. When I call, I cannot get ahold of anyone who can help. Sales/support does not respond to my emails. Maybe if you are part of a large firm they treat you differently.

We did not use any other practice management software, but I did evaluate Rocket Matter as a potential alternative. Rocket Matter does not have the same robust intake software that Clio Grow does and therefore it was not even a plausible alternative for us to implement. Clio is constantly updating and evolving based on feedback from users and that makes it the kind of program that can grow with your business needs.

Incentivized

We've had Prevail for over 10 years. We checked into other options and, while some had certain features we were looking that Prevail did not have, we decided that overall, the features we wanted were not worth the time and stress of changing case management systems, so we decided to stick with Prevail.

• Hard to judge ROI, but it saves us money compared to our old server based system (ProLaw)
• More accessible from more places. I was able to continue working during a two week trip to the beach.
• The Client Portal (Clio Connect) is a positive way to send clients document securely, avoids the forwarded email / forwarded attachment problem.

Incentivized

• Moving to a case management system 10 years ago increased efficiency by allowing us to access our information remotely.
• Also, the document merge feature saved countless hours of preparing communications, of various types, individually, as now the process is automatic.
• The statute notification feature is especially helpful from a peace of mind perspective, knowing there is nothing out there that's about to bite you, procedurally.