Clio vs CARET Legal Comparison

Incredibly easy and intuitive software to use. Allowed our firm to cut out a lot of software training and better focus on client needs with this simple but effective solution

The reporting features leave a lot to be desired and could be vastly improved. Our caseload is our livelihood, and we need a better way to analyze all of our data on a macro level.

It's a very good law practice management tool.

CLIO does not help with managing legal cases. As a legal case management tool, I give them 1 star, but only because they mischaracterize themselves as a legal case management tool. If CLIO categorized itself as a first person shooter game, I'd also give them 1 star.

The software is very easy to use, and with it being online, it is great to have your calendar, contacts and files with you no matter where you are. When you also consider the great Clio app, it is truly a legal management program for the modern attorney.

The software is not compatible with all legal accounting software

Clio allows unlimited legal document storage, eliminating the worry of running out of space. Unlike other software, it is made for use with legal cases and legal documents. The specific set up is helpful. Billing and payment processing are supported. Clio helps us stay informed on deadlines and stay organized.

Some things that are advertised are actually provided by a third party and require additional setup and sometimes additional payments. The legal calendar is not the best I've used and I don't like it.

CLIO IS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL TO MANAGE ONE'S LEGAL PRACTICE

THE INTEGRATION OF THE BILLING MODULE WITH QUICKBOOKS.

It makes creating legal documents and maintaining calendars so much easier.

It would be great if there was a way to create a chart that shows peak activity throughout the year based on matters and the dates they occur.

Hi Alissa! Thanks for taking the time to write a review about your experience with Clio, and great suggestion regarding the activity tracking chartI'll make sure that gets in front of our product team. Thanks for being a customer! - Derek

Ease of use, comprehensive coverage of elements of a legal practice.

E-mail importing into cases should have a better bulk import feature.

Great customer support; great on-boarding from other legal software. Fair pricing.

Document management is still a work in progress from my perspective.

Cost is much better in comparison with our prior legal billing product.

Process to transfer has taken much longer than expected and was not seemless.

Cloud based access is helpful for our team when not at our computers.

This software is not designed for in-house legal functions and has no reporting capabilities.

Ease of use. Variety of integrations. Wide array of function. Value.

It does not have built in document templates and legal forms. too many "add ons"

Integrations with every major legal techonology. Bascially the hub of our legal tech stack with the other products being spokes. Love the community and Cliocon. Always looking to see if competitors have improved enough to consider leaving - they have not.

No legal CRM is perfect. It's the least worst option but have noticed a change in their focus to upselling. There has been little improvement or development on main Clio program for base users - all new features are being pushed non-step in atttempt to increase revenue per user. Need to use Fasterlaw to get the most out of Clio on windows.

Easy to use and navigate. I think this product is a necessity in legal services.

Can become jumbled and packed after many names are created as contacts

They have a huge library of integration apps to connect everything in one place. It can be tailored for multiple practice areas and multiple size firm.

Since the tool is so expansive it doesn’t always specialize well. I have one practice area and have a solo firm. It can do anything I need it to do but there are a lot of features and things that I don’t need. But the price is reasonable enough that it doesn’t feel wasteful.

Perfect for post-COVID realities. Critical for surviving in the modern world and changing legal landscape

Some of the integrations have a few hiccups, but their support is exceptional and an absolute pleasure to work with

No pros were added to this review

No cons were added to this review

It is cloud base, easy to access, the calendaring is great.

The notifications to email need to be improved.

What I liked the most about this software was the organizational structure. All of the categories needed to learn how a law firm operates are essential to any legal intern. Inputting in time sheet details have never been easier. It's a definite investment for any legal intern to learn.

What I liked the least about this software was the occasional glitch where I would put in time recorded, a slightly different time showed up. For example, I recorded 1h and 20m on writing a memo and the system recorded it as 1h and 19m. It doesn't show up all the time, but on rare occasions it does happen.

Everything

Their conference is too short.

It takes alot of the extra time out of my hands and allows me to focus on the legal work.

I wish that Clio Grow and Clio Manage were more integrated together so as to facilitate ease of use between the two platforms.

I have been a Clio user since 2016. Clio is essential for my law firm to function on a day-to-day basis. The online tutorials coupled with the excellent customer service has allowed me to use this as our main client contact. Clio is comprehensive in capturing client data, messages, calendaring, secure communications, client matters, document storage, and billing. Clio is even integrating with Lexicata (which we use) in order to aid in seamless​ client intake. Truly, Clio is excellent and highly recommended for any legal practitioner.

I wish Clio would have specific IOLTA account rules built into​ its "accounting" section. Otherwise, Clio has little to no negatives.

Clio obviates all of the hardware problems that derail law offices by using the Cloud. You have access to your office on your desktop, iPad and phone. I can track billable while I am in court. The document production features saves hours of wasted time cutting and pasting. Clio has helped me reign in my practice.

More expensive than when it initially rolled out.

An amazing legal case management software that is an all-in-one stop for case management, billing, and several more features.

I think the features that allow you to communicate with clients could be more improved.

Very intuitive and easy to use. Matter input and tracking is very straightforward, and allows for comprehensive oversight of legal matters.

Offer more integration options for passive timekeeping.

I like the ease of its use and the ability to integrate all other legal applications in one place. Its amazing.

I wish I could integrate my email into Clio so that I can operate my email system within Clio itself versus Microsoft.

First and foremost is the email system. All emails (both incoming and sent) are easily attached to the file with a click of the mouse. it is also very easy to attach a file document (a Z-doc) to an outgoing email or to download an email attachment directly to the file. Using the Intake forms (both shared and internal) are handy ways to have the quick information (critical dates, expenses, etc) at...

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The inability to connect with services like Zapier. I have a love-hate relationship with Clio and Zapier. I enjoyed linking Google forms and Smartsheet and Clio. I miss having that ability. I am also having challenges utilizing virtual assistants with the system. However, I am getting used to, and preferring using just one system.

The two big things that Zola gets right are the accounting component and work flow for billing. Before trying Zola, I tried manual spreadsheets, FreshBooks, Harvest, CaseOne, Clio, Xero, ebility, and probably some others. None of them got out of the way and let me run a business like Zola does. Yes, they assume that I have a dedicated office manager, but even when I do, why would I want to do that...

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There are some user interface things that I think will improve in the coming year. (For example, I don't use Zola for email, the fact that it is front and center doesn't help me, but that is not something I have to work around.) They publish their roadmap so I know that the platform is going to develop.

The best features of ZolaSuite for my firm is it's integration with Google Business for email, the fact that it has full-accounting including three-way reconciliation, its time keeping and billing features, and integration with law firm specific merchant services. I've tried Clio, which may be the closest competitor, and ZolaSuite beats their software, hands down.

The color scheme for read/unread emails in the Gmail integration could use different colors to more easily tell what emails are read or not read.

Austin, thank you so much for taking the time to review Zola Suite! We love hearing from happy customers like you.

Robust program that covers everything from case management to client lead intake to comprehensive firm accounting. Easy to use and navigate for the most part. Integrated CRM and FULL accounting of all operating and trust accounts with triple reconciliation keeps the entire process streamlined and accessible without having to utilize a dozen different programs and hoping nothing falls through the cracks.

Has minor UI issues that can be annoying, particularly the inability to active a full subscription without going through a multi-step process involving both the sales department and support team at Zola. This should be a "click here, pick your plan, enter your payment method" process with no need to have it "activated" by the company before being able to use it. That being said, there are some additional features that I would love to see Zola add/integrate/improve ASAP (which I am sending to Zola as suggestions for future improvements). If these features were incorporated, ZolaSuite would certainly be a category killer and rapidly take over the entire market, but they are not "dealbreaker" items as far as I'm concerned for overall ratings.

On the whole, Zola is an excellent practice management software. The onboarding process was smooth and we were easily able to get our client and matter databases uploaded. The built-in email integration is hands-down the best feature about Zola. After linking your email account, the integrated email application allows us to quickly and easily save client correspondence and attachments directly to...

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The CRM feels pretty lacking. The fact that it is included is a nice bonus over other practice management offerings, but the overall functionality isn't great. You can't customize the CRM/sales process stages or really anything about the CRM for that matter, so you have to brute force your own process to fit what is given to you. We decided to use a different software for our CRM because it ultimately...

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Hi, Conner. Thank you for your feedback; we're thrilled to hear that Zola Suite has helped to improve your firm's efficiency and profitability. We're sorry that Zola CRM's capabilities have not lived up to your expectations. Currently, firms can only customize CRM Sources within Firm Settings but we're working on a major update that will include the ability to customize CRM stages. With respect to task management, we're actively working on the ability to add individual due dates for subtasks. We'll be sure to update you when it's released.

Pricing was decent. But afterwards, even pricing did not justify shortcomings in the software.

Functionality was limited. Interface was very slow. Many processes were not intuitive or easy.

Jim, we're very sorry to hear about your experience working with CARET Legal. We pride ourselves on delivering white-glove support along with a robust platform and we're sorry that we didn't meet your expectations. We will be sure to pass along this feedback to our team and use it to continuously improve our services and our platform.