Guide · Clio automation
Clio automation: what Clio does, and what needs a build.
Can you automate Clio?
Yes. Clio has its own automated workflows for steps that happen inside Clio, like creating tasks and documents as a matter moves forward. For everything that starts outside Clio, like phone calls, website leads, e-signatures and reports, the automation has to be built around Clio, usually through Clio's API, so nobody retypes information into it.
What Clio automates on its own
Start here. Clio Manage's automated workflows come with its Advanced and Expand plans. If these cover your work, you do not need anything else.
Automated workflows in Clio Manage
Tie tasks and document templates to a matter's stage, so moving a case forward creates the next to-do list and drafts the next document.
Clio's help articleAutomated workflows in Clio Grow
Follow-ups and steps during intake, before a lead becomes a client.
Clio's help articleWhere law firms outgrow Clio's built-in automation
Clio is good at what happens inside Clio. The trouble is that a lot of a firm's day does not.
The work starts outside Clio
A call on the phone system, a form on your website, an email. Clio cannot automate what it never sees, so someone retypes it.
Several systems have to agree
Your phones, your intake CRM, your e-signature tool and Clio each hold part of the story. Keeping them in step by hand is where details get lost.
The numbers you want are not in one report
Collections against this year's goal, profit by practice area, intake from calls. The data is in Clio, but the view you want is not.
You want to ask questions in plain English
"Which matters have not been touched in thirty days?" is a question Clio holds the answer to. Getting it without building a report is what AI connected to Clio is good at.
What we build around Clio
We connect Clio to the rest of a firm through Clio's own API, with access the firm grants and can revoke. Things running for law firms today:
- An attorney accepts a new lead, and the contact and matter open in Clio with the details already filled in. See the intake guide.
- A finished phone call becomes a Clio time entry with the description ready to edit. See the phone system guide.
- A dashboard reads the firm's numbers straight from Clio, so nobody builds the weekly report. See the KPI dashboard guide.
- Claude, an AI assistant, connected to a firm's Clio, so the firm can ask questions of its matters in plain English. See how that works.
Common questions
Does Clio have workflow automation?
Yes. Clio Manage and Clio Grow both have automated workflows. Use them first. They handle the steps that happen inside Clio well.
Do we need Zapier to automate Clio?
Not necessarily. Zapier is good for simple connections between common apps. When the steps involve judgment, several systems, or firm-specific rules, a direct connection to Clio's API is usually more reliable and easier to audit.
Can AI work with our Clio data?
Yes. With a connector, an AI assistant can read matters, contacts, time entries and tasks from Clio and answer questions about them. The firm grants that access through Clio's own sign-in and can revoke it at any time.
Do we have to leave Clio to get more automation?
No. Most firms get the most from building around the software they already pay for. Switching systems to get automation is usually the expensive way to do it.
What do you still retype into Clio?
Bring the list. We will tell you which parts Clio can handle on its own and which are worth building.
Book a $250 ConsultThe consult: one hour with the team, not a salesperson. You leave with a real number. The $250 comes off your build if you move forward. You pick your time right after checkout.
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