Comparison
LegalCRM.pro vs. Clio or MyCase intake
Short answer: keep Clio or MyCase. They are built for the matter, from engagement to closed file, and they are good at it. LegalCRM.pro is built for the stretch before engagement: the reply at 9:41 PM in Spanish, the opposing party captured before the consult, the retainer that gets re-sent until it is signed. When the retainer is signed, the record moves into your case management software and the matter opens there.
The question is not which one to buy. It is whether the intake module that comes with your suite covers the stage where your firm loses cases. For some firms it does. The cases where it does are listed below, before ours.
SIDE BY SIDE
Which stage each one is built for
Clio and MyCase ship intake features that change by tier and by year. This describes the category as of the date on this page; check the vendor’s current feature list before deciding.
| Practice-management intake (Clio, MyCase) | LegalCRM.pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | The matter, from engagement to closed file: documents, billing, calendaring, the client portal | The prospective client, from first contact to signed retainer, then a hand-off into the matter |
| Where it starts | At engagement, or with an intake form and pipeline module bolted on in front | At the first message, call, form, or chat, before anyone is a client |
| First reply | Typically a form acknowledgement; anything more is configured by the firm | An attorney-approved template within a minute on every channel, offering a time, in the person's language |
| Spanish | Clio's Spanish client portal is genuinely good, for clients. Intake-stage Spanish is the firm's to build | Every intake message written in Spanish and English, with the language recorded on first contact and carried to the retainer |
| Conflict check | Strong once the contact is in the system; a firm-wide search against existing matters | The opposing party is captured on the form so the firm can run its check before the consult; the check itself runs in your case management software |
| Phone and text | Varies by product and add-on; the phone is usually a separate vendor | A voice agent for calls, texting from the firm number, and a missed-call text-back, all logged to one thread |
| Follow-up to the retainer | Tasks and reminders for staff; automated sequences depend on the product tier | Sequences that re-send the retainer, remind, and check in until signed or declined, then stop |
| Reporting on intake | Lead source and pipeline reports where the intake module is used | Time to first reply and signed retainers by source, attorney, and language of first contact |
| After the signature | This is home: the matter, billing, documents, the portal | The record, the thread, and the conflict-check fields move into your case management software and the matter opens there |
| Pricing model | Per user per month, with intake features on specific tiers; check the vendor | A flat monthly subscription by firm size, never per lead or per case |
WHEN THE SUITE'S INTAKE IS ENOUGH
Stay with what you have if
- You already run Clio or MyCase and your intake volume is a handful of inquiries a month, mostly in English, mostly by phone during hours. Their intake module and a receptionist will do.
- Your firm wants one vendor for everything and will accept a thinner intake stage to get it. That is a reasonable trade and many firms make it.
- The firm is not going to approve templates or run Spanish sequences. Most of what we add would sit unused.
WHEN TO PUT THIS IN FRONT OF IT
Add LegalCRM.pro if
- Inquiries arrive at night, in Spanish, as forms and texts, and the firm has no reply going out until morning. The intake module does not solve the 9:41 PM problem; it records it.
- Cases are lost between the consultation and the signature, and nobody can say how many. The retainer stage and its follow-up are the reason this product exists.
- The partners want signed retainers by language and by source, from the first contact, not from the point the matter was opened.
- The firm wants the practice-management suite to stay exactly as it is. We hand off into it; we do not replace it.
How the hand-off works
A prospective client is not a client, and the two are kept apart on purpose. What a person tells your intake is protected under Rule 4-1.18 whether or not they hire you, but it is not yet the client file, and putting it in the matter system before the conflict check clears is how a firm ends up with the other side’s facts in its own case management software. So the intake lives here until the retainer is signed.
At signature, the contact, the matter type, the opposing party, the key dates, the source, the language, and the full conversation thread move into Clio, MyCase, Filevine, or Smokeball, and the matter opens with the file already started. The hand-off is scoped per system on the Group plan and described in detail on the demo. Nothing about how your firm runs the matter changes.
FAQ
Questions firms on Clio or MyCase ask
No. LegalCRM.pro runs in front of your case management software and hands off into it when the retainer is signed. The matter, billing, documents, and client portal stay where they are.
For firms whose intake is a handful of English-language calls during business hours, the built-in module is usually enough, and we say so on the page. LegalCRM.pro is for the stage that module records but does not solve: the 9:41 PM Spanish inquiry, the conflict-check fields before the consult, and the retainer follow-up.
In your case management software, against your existing matters. LegalCRM.pro captures the opposing party on the intake form and holds a Conflict Check Pending stage so the consultation is not booked until your team has run it. The check itself and the decision to clear it are the firm's.
The contact, the matter type, the opposing party, the key dates, the source, the language of first contact, and the full conversation thread. The hand-off is scoped per system on the Group plan, and we walk through it on the demo for the software you run.
See the hand-off into your case management software.
Thirty minutes. A Spanish inquiry, the approved reply, the conflict-check fields, the retainer follow-up, and the matter opening in Clio or MyCase with the file already started.