After suing LEAP and testing FilePro, I fell in love with Clio

Dan Morris is the Principal Solicitor at Dan Morris Legal in Perth, a small law firm focused on providing contract services and representation for his clients. Dan’s practice primarily works in litigation but he does a lot of work in related commercial services in addition to contract reviews, such as advice drafting and negotiation. In addition, Dan’s three main focus practice areas of law are construction, deceased estate litigation and insolvency. 

When Dan first set up his law firm, he turned to LEAP. Like many lawyers in Australia, he didn’t know there was any alternative. But as someone who looks to build trust with his clients, he found just the opposite working with LEAP.

1. Why Dan ultimately sued LEAP

After purchasing LEAP, Dan went through the company’s business diagnostics test as the first part of his onboarding to assess its compatibility with the software. This diagnostics test failed, and with no real effort to solve the issue at hand, this is where LEAP informed Dan that in order to use the LEAP software, he would need to replace all of his computers, phones, and tablets—in addition to paying for an extensive software upgrade with LEAP—for him and all his staff.

Without the costly upgrades, Dan was left with an expensive practice management software that he couldn’t use. Dan tried to get out of his contract stating that LEAP were not providing him with a usable software service but LEAP refused claiming that he was contract bound.

 In light of this, Dan refused to authorise payments, but LEAP took money out of his bank account anyway. When Dan notified the bank to block their account, LEAP found a workaround to still withdraw more money. This is when Dan sued LEAP for conversion of bank credits – essentially for taking money without his authority and the disruption this had on his business. 

3. Finding Clio and falling in love

After his legal battle with LEAP and exploring other practice management solutions, Dan ultimately discovered Clio. Clio offered no lock-in contracts, personalised onboarding, training and continuous support to implement and utilise the software, which were all very appealing features.

From the start, Dan was impressed by Clio’s user-friendly interface and powerful features. He was able to quickly get his firm set up to manage all of his cases and contacts. Clio provided him with a practical solution that integrated beautifully with Xero, giving him the ability to connect all of his billing information between the two platforms, so he could easily manage all of his accounting. Overall, Clio allows Dan to manage his practice efficiently without the burdens he faced before.