Practice management vendor Clio has commited $1m to a disaster relief program to help law firms navigate the difficulties that lie ahead in light of the global COVID-19 shut down.
CEO Jack Newton says in a letter out today (23 March): “No matter what kind of law you practice, you provide an essential service to our global community. We want to ensure that whatever barriers you’re facing during this time, you’re able to continue to provide that service while taking responsible, precautionary measures to keep yourself and your communities safe.”
Law firms are able to apply for help with Clio licenses and/or onboarding and implementation but also direct monetary aid.
Newton says: “While much of what lies ahead is uncharted territory, this remains clear: we need to undertake a swift and massive transformation of the legal industry, and compress change that would have transpired over the course of years into change that needs to happen over a course of weeks. This funding program is designed to help lawyers adapt through a holistic range of initiatives, including free Clio licenses to those in need, support with onboarding and implementation to the cloud, educational partnerships with bar associations and law societies, as well as direct monetary aid for legal professionals and organizations in need.
“The way we overcome this is by supporting one another, and we can only do that if we know what our community needs. If you are a community leader, let us know what is needed most right now and help us share this message broadly.”
The move comes as firms around the globe look at their remote working arrangements and Clio, which is a cloud-based matter, practice and document management system would certainly mean that firms can operate from anywhere, although the practicalities of engaging in a large tech project right now are debatable.
The fund is here: www.clio.com/covid-relief. Let us know if you benefit and how.
Newton is certainly right when he says: “The coming months will be marked by change. Together, we can make navigating this change simpler, so that we can focus on keeping ourselves and our communities safe.”