ClioCon 2026 day one recap: notes from the floor in Boston

By Danial Alam, LegalMate. Written in Boston the night day one of ClioCon 2026 wrapped.

That was the official wrap on day one of ClioCon.

I recorded a quick video right after to say exactly that, and then realized 27 seconds wasn't going to cover it. So here's the longer version: who was in the room, what Clio announced on stage, and what I'm looking forward to on day two.

The best part was the people

Most of my week is spent on calls with law firms. I hear how they run intake, how their calls and texts get into Clio, and where things are falling through the cracks. ClioCon is one of the few times a year all of those people are in the same building - and I got to be here to take it all in.

Day one was a really great opportunity to network. I met attorneys, other vendors, and the whole thing felt more like a giant collaboration than a trade show.

Talking to other vendors is underrated, by the way. A lot of us are working on different pieces of the same problem, and it's a lot easier to compare notes in a hallway than on LinkedIn.

What Clio announced on day one

Jack Newton, Clio's CEO, opened with the main keynote, and there was a lot in it.

Here are the top 7 headline items in plain terms:

A new look - Clio unveiled the first new logo and visual identity in the company's history, as well as a redesigned clio.com, which went live the same morning.
One Clio - Clio Grow, Clio Manage, and Clio Work are coming together in one interface with a single login. Rollout for that will start in November.
A unified inbox - Email and texts, stored in one place, and filed to the right matter or contact.
An AI assistant and agentic workflows - You can ask questions from anywhere in Clio. Firms can describe a process in plain language (or upload an SOP), and then have Clio build the steps, with approval points where a person signs off.
Clio Phones - A business phone system built into Clio that records, transcribes, and summarizes calls and prepares time entries for review. It's in trial in select U.S. states. This one sits close to what we work on every day, so I wrote a separate post on what we know (and don't) about Clio Phones.
Documents and time - Documents Pro, which is a built-in document management system. And Clio Timekeeping, an opt-in beta that prepares time entries from activity across your apps.
The 2026 Legal Trends Report - Clio's annual report came out, too. Worth a read if you like seeing how other firms are running. Lots of valuable info inside, if you know where to look.

Jack also said next year's ClioCon will be in Seattle. Looks like I’ll be visiting the Emerald City in 2027.

"It was a really great opportunity to network, meet attorneys, meet other vendors, and just have a collaboration and an environment where we can all be together in a like-minded atmosphere." - Danial Alam, Day 1 of ClioCon

What I'm taking away from it

Honestly, it was absolutely amazing to see all the tech that's coming into the legal industry. But what stood out to me wasn't any single feature. It was how often the keynote came back to a person being forced to check the work. Manually.

Time entries are prepared for review. Agentic workflows have approval points. Firms can set playbooks that say where the AI has to stop for a lawyer's judgment. eFiling fills in the court forms, and a lawyer still reviews and submits. That's the right instinct. Lawyers are responsible for what goes out the door, and the tools are being built that way.

My other big takeaway is that everything is moving toward one place. Calls, texts, emails, meetings, documents, and time management - all tied together. Whether that ends up being one platform or a few tools that work well together, the firms I talk to all want the same thing. Open a matter and see what happened - without having to chase it across five apps.

If you run a firm and you're following all this from home, you don't need to change anything this week. Most of what was announced rolls out over the next several months.

Do yourself a favor and write down the two or three things that would make the biggest difference to your team. Ask the practical questions when they land: where the data lives, who can see it, and how review works.

Looking forward to day two

Day one also had some great keynote speeches, and I'm looking forward to day two. It's built around focused tracks, including Business of Law, Tech & Innovation, Solo & Small Firms and Mid-to-Large Firms, so it should be more hands-on. Less "here's what's new," more "here's how firms are actually doing it."

If you're in Boston, come say hi! I'm the one in the LegalMate shirt. If you'd rather set a time, you can leave your details here, and I’ll find you.

Not here this year? I'm posting the behind-the-scenes on Instagram at @danial_with_legalmate.

About the author

I'm Danial Alam, and I'm on the sales and growth team at LegalMate, where I spend my days talking to firms about how calls, texts and intake actually get into Clio and Filevine. I post the behind-the-scenes version of that work, including ClioCon this week, on Instagram (follow me at @danial_with_legalmate).

By Danial Alam, LegalMate. Written in Boston the night day one of ClioCon 2026 wrapped.

That was the official wrap on day one of ClioCon.

I recorded a quick video right after to say exactly that, and then realized 27 seconds wasn't going to cover it. So here's the longer version: who was in the room, what Clio announced on stage, and what I'm looking forward to on day two.

The best part was the people

Most of my week is spent on calls with law firms. I hear how they run intake, how their calls and texts get into Clio, and where things are falling through the cracks. ClioCon is one of the few times a year all of those people are in the same building - and I got to be here to take it all in.

Day one was a really great opportunity to network. I met attorneys, other vendors, and the whole thing felt more like a giant collaboration than a trade show.

Talking to other vendors is underrated, by the way. A lot of us are working on different pieces of the same problem, and it's a lot easier to compare notes in a hallway than on LinkedIn.

What Clio announced on day one

Jack Newton, Clio's CEO, opened with the main keynote, and there was a lot in it.

Here are the top 7 headline items in plain terms:

A new look - Clio unveiled the first new logo and visual identity in the company's history, as well as a redesigned clio.com, which went live the same morning.
One Clio - Clio Grow, Clio Manage, and Clio Work are coming together in one interface with a single login. Rollout for that will start in November.
A unified inbox - Email and texts, stored in one place, and filed to the right matter or contact.
An AI assistant and agentic workflows - You can ask questions from anywhere in Clio. Firms can describe a process in plain language (or upload an SOP), and then have Clio build the steps, with approval points where a person signs off.
Clio Phones - A business phone system built into Clio that records, transcribes, and summarizes calls and prepares time entries for review. It's in trial in select U.S. states. This one sits close to what we work on every day, so I wrote a separate post on what we know (and don't) about Clio Phones.
Documents and time - Documents Pro, which is a built-in document management system. And Clio Timekeeping, an opt-in beta that prepares time entries from activity across your apps.
The 2026 Legal Trends Report - Clio's annual report came out, too. Worth a read if you like seeing how other firms are running. Lots of valuable info inside, if you know where to look.

Jack also said next year's ClioCon will be in Seattle. Looks like I’ll be visiting the Emerald City in 2027.

"It was a really great opportunity to network, meet attorneys, meet other vendors, and just have a collaboration and an environment where we can all be together in a like-minded atmosphere." - Danial Alam, Day 1 of ClioCon

What I'm taking away from it

Honestly, it was absolutely amazing to see all the tech that's coming into the legal industry. But what stood out to me wasn't any single feature. It was how often the keynote came back to a person being forced to check the work. Manually.

Time entries are prepared for review. Agentic workflows have approval points. Firms can set playbooks that say where the AI has to stop for a lawyer's judgment. eFiling fills in the court forms, and a lawyer still reviews and submits. That's the right instinct. Lawyers are responsible for what goes out the door, and the tools are being built that way.

My other big takeaway is that everything is moving toward one place. Calls, texts, emails, meetings, documents, and time management - all tied together. Whether that ends up being one platform or a few tools that work well together, the firms I talk to all want the same thing. Open a matter and see what happened - without having to chase it across five apps.

If you run a firm and you're following all this from home, you don't need to change anything this week. Most of what was announced rolls out over the next several months.

Do yourself a favor and write down the two or three things that would make the biggest difference to your team. Ask the practical questions when they land: where the data lives, who can see it, and how review works.

Looking forward to day two

Day one also had some great keynote speeches, and I'm looking forward to day two. It's built around focused tracks, including Business of Law, Tech & Innovation, Solo & Small Firms and Mid-to-Large Firms, so it should be more hands-on. Less "here's what's new," more "here's how firms are actually doing it."

If you're in Boston, come say hi! I'm the one in the LegalMate shirt. If you'd rather set a time, you can leave your details here, and I’ll find you.

Not here this year? I'm posting the behind-the-scenes on Instagram at @danial_with_legalmate.

About the author

I'm Danial Alam, and I'm on the sales and growth team at LegalMate, where I spend my days talking to firms about how calls, texts and intake actually get into Clio and Filevine. I post the behind-the-scenes version of that work, including ClioCon this week, on Instagram (follow me at @danial_with_legalmate).

By Danial Alam, LegalMate. Written in Boston the night day one of ClioCon 2026 wrapped.

That was the official wrap on day one of ClioCon.

I recorded a quick video right after to say exactly that, and then realized 27 seconds wasn't going to cover it. So here's the longer version: who was in the room, what Clio announced on stage, and what I'm looking forward to on day two.

The best part was the people

Most of my week is spent on calls with law firms. I hear how they run intake, how their calls and texts get into Clio, and where things are falling through the cracks. ClioCon is one of the few times a year all of those people are in the same building - and I got to be here to take it all in.

Day one was a really great opportunity to network. I met attorneys, other vendors, and the whole thing felt more like a giant collaboration than a trade show.

Talking to other vendors is underrated, by the way. A lot of us are working on different pieces of the same problem, and it's a lot easier to compare notes in a hallway than on LinkedIn.

What Clio announced on day one

Jack Newton, Clio's CEO, opened with the main keynote, and there was a lot in it.

Here are the top 7 headline items in plain terms:

A new look - Clio unveiled the first new logo and visual identity in the company's history, as well as a redesigned clio.com, which went live the same morning.
One Clio - Clio Grow, Clio Manage, and Clio Work are coming together in one interface with a single login. Rollout for that will start in November.
A unified inbox - Email and texts, stored in one place, and filed to the right matter or contact.
An AI assistant and agentic workflows - You can ask questions from anywhere in Clio. Firms can describe a process in plain language (or upload an SOP), and then have Clio build the steps, with approval points where a person signs off.
Clio Phones - A business phone system built into Clio that records, transcribes, and summarizes calls and prepares time entries for review. It's in trial in select U.S. states. This one sits close to what we work on every day, so I wrote a separate post on what we know (and don't) about Clio Phones.
Documents and time - Documents Pro, which is a built-in document management system. And Clio Timekeeping, an opt-in beta that prepares time entries from activity across your apps.
The 2026 Legal Trends Report - Clio's annual report came out, too. Worth a read if you like seeing how other firms are running. Lots of valuable info inside, if you know where to look.

Jack also said next year's ClioCon will be in Seattle. Looks like I’ll be visiting the Emerald City in 2027.

"It was a really great opportunity to network, meet attorneys, meet other vendors, and just have a collaboration and an environment where we can all be together in a like-minded atmosphere." - Danial Alam, Day 1 of ClioCon

What I'm taking away from it

Honestly, it was absolutely amazing to see all the tech that's coming into the legal industry. But what stood out to me wasn't any single feature. It was how often the keynote came back to a person being forced to check the work. Manually.

Time entries are prepared for review. Agentic workflows have approval points. Firms can set playbooks that say where the AI has to stop for a lawyer's judgment. eFiling fills in the court forms, and a lawyer still reviews and submits. That's the right instinct. Lawyers are responsible for what goes out the door, and the tools are being built that way.

My other big takeaway is that everything is moving toward one place. Calls, texts, emails, meetings, documents, and time management - all tied together. Whether that ends up being one platform or a few tools that work well together, the firms I talk to all want the same thing. Open a matter and see what happened - without having to chase it across five apps.

If you run a firm and you're following all this from home, you don't need to change anything this week. Most of what was announced rolls out over the next several months.

Do yourself a favor and write down the two or three things that would make the biggest difference to your team. Ask the practical questions when they land: where the data lives, who can see it, and how review works.

Looking forward to day two

Day one also had some great keynote speeches, and I'm looking forward to day two. It's built around focused tracks, including Business of Law, Tech & Innovation, Solo & Small Firms and Mid-to-Large Firms, so it should be more hands-on. Less "here's what's new," more "here's how firms are actually doing it."

If you're in Boston, come say hi! I'm the one in the LegalMate shirt. If you'd rather set a time, you can leave your details here, and I’ll find you.

Not here this year? I'm posting the behind-the-scenes on Instagram at @danial_with_legalmate.

About the author

I'm Danial Alam, and I'm on the sales and growth team at LegalMate, where I spend my days talking to firms about how calls, texts and intake actually get into Clio and Filevine. I post the behind-the-scenes version of that work, including ClioCon this week, on Instagram (follow me at @danial_with_legalmate).