How Criminal Defense Attorney Robert Guest Delivers Justice from a Smartphone With Clio

Robert Guest, Criminal Defense Attorney, Guest & Gray

For Texas Criminal Defense attorney Robert Guest, the days of lugging around paper files and notes from one court appearance to another are long gone. He now defends his clients armed with nothing more than his smartphone. As the managing partner of a six attorney firm in Dallas, Robert has transformed his practice with technology. A simple tech stack with Clio at its center allows him work from home, manage his twelve employees, deliver quality service, and ensure justice for all of his clients.

As a former board member of the State Bar of Texas and practicing attorney of thirteen years, Robert has watched the legal landscape shift from traditional, paper-based firms to virtual offices that rely on e-filings, online communications, and web-based applications. Not one to be left behind, he abandoned the establishment and joined the avant garde generation of legal practitioners who thrive with technology, are free of their desks and offices, and function on a new found luxury in the legal profession—flexibility.

“I would say I work from home 80% of the time and that every lawyer at our firm works remotely.” A Clio user of over seven years, Robert has enjoyed the freedom and flexibility that comes with the ability to communicate with his team, access his files, bill and accept payments from clients, and market his firm at any time and location that he chooses.

Enjoying the benefits of technology

Spending a majority of his time away from the office, Robert’s life is often divided between his house and the courthouse. He stays organized by using Clio on his phone and a few handy integrations. “With Clio, the only thing that I can’t do on the go is review video footage—everything else I can do remotely, mobile, and from my phone. It’s even replaced my iPad when I usually go to Court. Honestly, I show up to court with just a phone …. that’s all I need as a Criminal Lawyer.”

Court appearances aren’t the only area of Robert’s practice that have benefited from Clio. From onboarding to research, billing, case review, and team collaboration—every aspect of his firm has become more efficient and productive. It has also protected him and his team from the dangers of malpractice. “There is most definitely a need for software that helps lawyers with organization— and there’s a lot of lawyers that need it. Most grievances arise from lawyers forgetting about a case. And why do they forget about a case? Because they’re trying to do it by themselves, and they have to memorize it—which is a horrible idea. Most need their practice to be simplified via technology—remembering all their cases is the minimum win.”

Handling a couple of hundred cases at any given time, the Guest and Gray Law Firm depends on Clio to help make easy work of the tasks on hand and keep the team up-to-date on the status of each and every case. With so many cases in various states of progress, Robert uses Clio to make sure that no clients fall through the cracks. “I really like having a top-down view of my firm, I enjoy data management and making sure nothing is forgotten, which I can do from home as well. Knowing how many matters we have open, how many are assigned per person, and who has old tasks allows me to keep on top of all the day-to-day activity of the firm.

Trust and security

Most clients seeking Robert’s counsel are in situations that they would like to keep confidential and away from prying eyes. Knowing that a data leak could have devastating consequences for his clients, Robert trusts Clio to keep his clients’ data safe. “I feel confident that Clio’s security and encryption is strong because I rely on it to store all of the the sensitive client data I deal with.”

This sense of security scopes almost every element of his practice—from communication, to discovery, and credit card payments. It also gives him peace of mind when working from home.

Being an early adopter of cloud technology has allowed Robert and the Guest & Gray Law Firm to scale quickly, work flexibly, and efficiently serve their clients. Each case is carefully tracked and monitored to ensure that each client gets the service and quality of representation that they deserve in a secure environment. With Clio’s help, Robert has abandoned his briefcase for his phone, created a virtual firm, and most importantly improved the lives of his clients, employees, and himself.

Interested in learning more about Clio? Try Clio for free or schedule a demo today!