Matters: A podcast from Clio

If you learned that the unmet legal needs of consumers amounted to a multi-billion opportunity, what would that mean for the legal industry?

What would it mean for your firm?

In this episode of the Matters legal podcast, Teresa Matich interviews Jack Newton, Clio’s CEO, Co-founder, and author of the new best-selling book The Client-Centered Law Firm. In the episode, Jack speaks about one of the book’s core concepts, the “latent legal market”—and why it matters.

The latent legal market refers to the untapped potential of all the would-be legal clients who aren’t currently using legal services to solve their legal issues. Consequently, it also refers to all the unrealized revenue that law firms could generate if they focused on providing the experience these would-be clients are looking for.

No one understands this better than Jack, whose interview highlights the incredible opportunities the latent legal market presents for law firms.

Does privacy still matter? And if so, how do we protect it in the Digital Age?

In this episode, Glenn Greenwald—the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, constitutional lawyer, commentator, and best-selling author who brought the Edward Snowden case to the public—joins us for a can’t-miss discussion on privacy, and why it’s more important now than ever.

In his conversation with Matters’ Teresa Matich, Glenn discusses what he learned about privacy while covering the Snowden case; the diverse privacy concerns that the Internet and companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Google have created; and how issues of privacy will affect current and future generations. He also shares perspective on the ways in which matters of privacy affect the legal industry, and the responsibilities legal professionals have to adhere to privacy standards.

How do we move past “an eye for an eye” in a way that benefits and honors communities and victims? And what role do physical spaces have to play in better justice solutions?

In this episode, Deanna Van Buren—an award-winning architect, activist for criminal justice reform, and Keynote Speaker from the 2019 Clio Cloud Conference—joins us for an in-depth discussion on restorative justice, and the role legal professionals can play in transforming the justice system.

The Design Director and Executive Director of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces—an architecture and real estate development firm that is building the infrastructure to end mass incarceration—Deanna shares the lessons she’s learned about punishment and justice with the Matters team.

What role does trauma play in shaping us as human beings? How do the flaws in our criminal justice system harm vulnerable populations? And how can legal professionals shift their perspectives on justice reform in order to help improve the system?

Shaka Senghor, criminal justice reform advocate and 2019 Clio Cloud Conference keynote speaker, joins us for a candid discussion on his personal story of redemption, the trauma of gun violence, and what legal professionals can do to start changing the conversation.

If we wanted to create a podcast that held real value for legal professionals, what would that look like? Who would be our guests, what would we talk about, and how would we deliver something different than what was currently available?

When we set out to launch a new legal podcast, these were the questions we asked. Through ten episodes, we’ve learned a lot about how the practice of law is changing, and how law firms can keep pace with that change. In this episode, join us as we look back and share the most important learnings with you again—or, if you’re a new listener, for the first time.

We’ve categorized our episodes along the lines of a few core themes: the client experience, the people behind law firms, and the data and tech tools that are changing the industry.

Take a listen to hear what’s “Mattered” the most so far.

Technology is changing countless industries, shifting paradigms, and restructuring the way organizations operate. In legal, technology has ushered in a new era of innovation, giving lawyers and law firms new ways to deliver services to clients. Now and in the years to come, legal professionals and practices that adopt these new innovations will be the ones that succeed in the long run.

In Episode 10 of the Matters podcast by Clio, we explore the concept of tech competence—a.k.a. tech savviness—to illustrate why legal professionals need technological skills, what’s at stake for firms that don’t embrace new tools, how lawyers can improve their familiarity and proficiency with legal software, and more.

Joining us are two experts—Bob Ambrogi and Monica Goyal—who bring in-depth legal and technological perspectives to the discussion.

Providing a positive client experience is essential to the success of your firm—but how do you know if you’re delivering a good client experience? How do you get inside the minds of your clients to know whether they’d recommend you to friends, family, and colleagues?

Feedback, that’s how.

In this episode of Matters, we’ll look at why collecting, analyzing, and acting on feedback is an essential practice for law firms. We’ll discuss some of the best, most practical ways for you to gather feedback from your clients, and how to make good use of it. We’ll also touch on why many attorneys shy away from feedback—and how even negative feedback can actually be a major positive.

Joining us are Anu Sethee, the Senior Director of Attorney Services and Product Counsel for Legal Plans at LegalZoom, and Josh Valentine, a partner at the Caulder & Valentine Law Firm in North Carolina.

In this episode of Matters, we’re joined by John Kassel, Managing Partner of one of Vermont’s leading law firms, and Sam Glover, Founder of Lawyerist.com, to discuss what it means to be mission-driven. For modern law firms, missions are more than just words or ideas—they are “the why” behind your legal practice, your reason for doing the work that you do.

John and Sam have implemented strong mission and value statements with their colleagues, leading to growth, success, and greater employee satisfaction. In this episode, they’ll speak to the impact that being mission-oriented can have for firms, and they’ll dispense practical advice on how to align your practice with your “why.”

When most people think of robots, they envision large metal contraptions that move about awkwardly. In recent years, the idea of robots has broadened to encompass all sorts of automated technological systems, such as virtual assistants like Amazon’s Alexa.

In this episode, we’ll explore legal robots. We’ll focus primarily on arguably the most common kind of legal robot—automated chatbots—which deserve special attention because, despite being relatively un-utilized by the majority of the legal community, they have the potential to drastically change the future of the industry.

Three legal technology experts will discuss what chatbots are, why they’re valuable to modern lawyers and legal clients, and how they can be designed to automate a wide variety of legal services. They’ll also take us through some of the limitations of chatbots, and some of the ethical concerns they may pose. Then they’ll touch on some other types of legal robots in the marketplace, and they’ll provide a glimpse of robots in the law firms of tomorrow—including your own.

The term “lawyer wellness” may seem like a contradiction because lawyers are notoriously un-well. Most legal professionals know that the rigors of the industry take a heavy toll, but despite a growing understanding of the scope of the problem, there is still a stigma associated with mental health and substance-related issues in legal. Many legal professionals who should be seeking professional help are not getting it, and lawyers who could be thriving are struggling.

Because of this, lawyer wellness is quickly becoming a major point of emphasis within the legal community.

In this episode, we’ll talk to four legal wellness experts who work with lawyers on a daily basis. Brian Cuban, Terry DeMeo, Nefra MacDonald, and Allison Wolf understand as well as anyone the challenges of modern legal practice, and they have valuable insights to share on how individual legal professionals—and the industry as a whole—can develop healthier habits.