Law Office of Vernon Brownlee Reduces Consultations From 30 Minutes to 10 With Clio

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Vernon Brownlee

Law Office of Vernon Brownlee

  • 2022

    Year Founded
  • Solo

    Number of Staff
  • 2022

    Started Using Clio
  • Largo, MD, USA

    Location
  • Flat Fee

    Fee Types
  • Criminal Defence

    Practice Areas

It pays to keep up with client expectations

Vernon Brownlee started his own solo practice at the start of 2022—offering criminal defense services that range from murder charges to DUIs.

He first launched with another practice management solution, but quickly realized he needed something that would be more efficient, offer more automations, and would ultimately help him respond quicker to clients.

“Just this week, I have a $7,500 case, a $3,000 case, and then I just signed a $2,000 case. I have five cases pending engagement within the next week. I’m up to $10,000 to $20,000 a month easily. I don’t even advertise. I just have an instagram page, but I haven’t had to pay $1 in advertising.”

How Clio Grow’s intake automation has accelerated Vernon’s business

Responsiveness is everything

Vernon knows that criminal defense is an area of law that is highly competitive. Even if a client signs up for a consultation, if they don’t get a confirmation or any indication of what to expect, they’ll quickly move on to the next firm.

“By making it as easy as me clicking a button to say, ‘Hey, your appointment is confirmed, please fill out this form,’ it keeps the client engaged enough to make the initial contact. That’s why I’ve been able to secure more clients—I’ve been more responsive to those initial consultation requests.”

“If they don’t hear back from you within 5 to 10 minutes, they’ll call the next attorney. Time is really of the essence.”

Better, client-winning intake

When Vernon first started, his previous software required a lot of manual work that took too much time when responding to client inquiries and capturing their details in his system.

“Let’s say I’m in court, and someone tried to schedule a consultation with me. They wouldn’t get an intake form, they wouldn’t get in your schedule, they wouldn’t get any confirmation. I would have to manually create that contact, gather all their information, and then put it into my system. Clio automatically does all that.”

“I lost a lot of leads with my last software. I don’t know what happened to those clients, but I’m sure they have another attorney right now. I don’t know if they would have hired me, but I know I didn’t get the opportunity to speak to them. With Clio, I’ve been able to talk to every single person who’s signed up for a consultation.”

More efficient, informed consultations

“Clio automatically creates appointments, books them in my calendar, and I have a standard email form that I can send automatically. The intake form automatically uploads the client’s information to the system. If they don’t fill out a form, Clio will send them a reminder.”

“Going into that consultation, I can see it—I’m prepared. I’m pretty much a step ahead.”

“I’ve been able to reduce my consultations from 30 minutes—when I had to collect all of this preliminary information—to 10 or 12 minutes. It saves time for my clients, and they really like the streamlined process.”

Efficiency is in the details

Vernon’s biggest priority is saving time. Having to do something over and over again only slows him down.

“With Clio, once you set your forms up—you decide what you want, what you don’t want—after that, it’s automatic. When my client signs a document, it automatically uploads where I want it.”

“With my last software, you could send a document, but when they signed it, it would let me know that they signed it, but the signed document wouldn’t be in the client’s portal. For me, that’s a big deal. I don’t want to have to search for it, download it, and then attach it to the portal.”

Even clients notice the difference

Clio has improved Vernon’s client management systems in a way that benefits him—and his clients.

“My time has been managed better. My clients have been a lot more satisfied. Since I switched to Clio, my clients say they appreciate the experience a lot more. Everything has been fantastic.”

Monitoring for too much business?

The dashboard in Clio Grow shows Vernon exactly how much business is coming into his firm. He sees what clients he’s engaged, those pending engagement, and how much potential revenue he’s looking at for his firm.

Clio also gives him a sense of when he’s able to take on more, or when he’s reached his limit.

“Clio makes it really easy to see everything that’s happening. It gives an easy way to set what targets you want to hit. And then once you hit those targets, you need to decide whether to go for it, or to say, ‘Hey, I want to take a step back.’ It makes it really easy to track without having to go through each and every case, figuring this out and jotting it down. It’s right there in an easy, simple layout.”

Expert training and support

With his last software, there was no hands-on training.

“You just get the software and you figure it out on your own. With Clio, I had three training sessions. I was able to play with the features before I even got in them. It was so simple and straightforward.”

“Clio is a very responsive, case management system. When I was using my previous practice management solution their team wasn’t very responsive. At Clio, everyone is helpful and knowledgeable and they always have my best interests at heart.”

Planning for more growth

With Clio Grow, Vernon has been able to capture so much more business—without the need to put any money toward advertising—while Clio Manage helps him manage his busy caseload. His next step is to hire at least two more staff members within the calendar year, and he’s hoping that Clio will make it easy for his firm to seamlessly communicate about cases, while helping with organization and managing clients.

“I haven’t missed my last software at all. Put it that way. Clio is a much easier experience for me, for many reasons: taking notes, tracking your bills, and making sure your client interactions are up to par—because that’s the main thing; your clients want to be able to get in contact with you.”

Interested in learning more about what Clio Grow can do for your firm?

Book a Demo Today