Maybe it is because we are approaching the October, 2026 come together event known as CLIO CON in Boston, an annual meeting of attorneys and software developers working through AI and software solutions to solve clients’ issues, or maybe it is because I keep encountering clients who are struggling to find answers to seemingly unsolvable problems, that I was drawn again recently to a book published in 2020 by Jack Newton, the Canadian entrepreneur. The book is entitled “The Client Centered Law Firm.” It is, by the way, supplemented every year by updates and forecasts.
The title of the book gives it away. There is a focus on the client. Not all problems can be solved and our office focuses primarily on planning and financial, but, to the extent that law and technology can assist by first identifying issues and then describing potential solutions it is worth the effort. We also take into account today that AI may complicate the problem. Both law and technology may be worlds away from what clients want to deal with. But listening, learning and creating new solutions are critical and the book describes how to begin.
CLIO CON, which we attended before when it was in Nashville, will continue the client focused theme in Boston. How do we communicate with clients to learn what they want? How does our legal background and experience help us to identify and solve problems? What new software or strategies might work. Which are not needed in my practice? What software from other companies such as accounting, bookkeeping, that we already use might interface with what we already know and have?
In my chosen field with estate planning, estate administration, locating and devising new living arrangements, reviewing finances, determining whether and when there might be a move to a CCRC or another location and which one, what different laws must be taken into account if moving to another state or purchasing property there, deciding whether or how to assist adult children if needed, deciding on investments, describing such government benefits as may be left, there is a lot to package. There is also much to listen to and learn from clients. While every issue and problem is unique, all raise a question to be solved. All require learning and projected solutions. So, a practice needs to be “Client Centered.” This year I will, along with my daughter and paralegal, Alisa, be proud to attend the Boston conference and learn more how to help.
Anyone who knows the background of CLIO knows Jack Newton and his story. Years ago when he and his then business partner came upon a law firm that was struggling with IT they realized that lawyers were unprepared, to put it mildly, for the technological revolution, let alone IT. They also learned that vast numbers of lawyers practiced as solo practitioners or in relatively small firms. They set to work to establish a unique relationship between lawyers and technology to solve problems lawyers encounter every day. Briefly stated, Newton and his then business partner learned by working with their initial law firm client that lawyers knew nothing or next to nothing about technology and how to use it to communicate with clients. It was an unmet need. But they also identified an area where small and medium sized law firms may have a distinct advantage. We can listen. Since the message goes beyond IT this is where CLIO has become a huge international movement and not just another computer software program.
As one illustration from the book the author describes a specific process to identify problems and their solutions. It describes the journey as gathering information, asking good open-ended questions and asking “is there anything you’d like to add?” Then defining the problem and the solution. It candidly admits you need to use what you learn to be “just a prototype.” Then it states “No matter how perfect a solution appears…there’s almost always an unexpected result …until you put it into action. Keep trying.
Jack will this year, as every year, be one of the keynote speakers at CLIO CON. He will be joined by others including, Malcolm Gladwell, a well known author of such books as “Blink”, “What the Dog Saw,”and “Outliers.” It is worth the effort to continue to learn.
