What is Clio Outlook Add-In?
Clio’s Outlook add-in caters to the needs of legal professionals who use Clio Manage and Microsoft Office 365 to take care of business. Easily sync emails, attachments, and time entries from Microsoft Outlook to Clio Manage so your records are organized and secure.
Why do law firms need this?
According to the 2006 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, attorneys are required to preserve all “digital records” related to a case. Additionally, the attorney and firm staff themselves have a need to keep up with the communications organized and accessible for any given matter.
What is new in the upgraded Clio Outlook Add-In?
- 10X speed improvement in filing emails and attachments.
- Intuitive folder organization system that mirrors your Clio Manage folders.
- A "Filed to Clio" category label.
- File emails without having to create contacts in Clio Manage.
- The ability to pin the add-in in Outlook.
How can I access the new Outlook Add-In?
With an eligible Clio account you will be able to download the new version from the Microsoft app store. The legacy version will be discontinued in the coming months.
How will my firm benefit from the Outlook Add-In?
Clio’s Outlook Add-In enables your firm staff to capture emails, attachments, and time entries seamlessly and securely in Clio Manage. The add-in acts as a connection point between Clio Manage and Outlook to enable a real-time, two-way sync of all essential email activity.
As users navigate emails in Outlook, the add-in enables them to send matter-related time and communications to Clio in one step.
How much will the Outlook Add-In cost?
It is included in the cost of your Clio subscription.
What if I file an email to the wrong matter?
Step 1: Find the email log under Communications
Step 2: Change the matter in the email log
If the matter folder feature is turned on in Outlook, the email must be moved manually to the appropriate folder in Outlook.
What happened to the timer?
The timer has been discontinued. The new add-in has time entry functionality that can be enabled while filing an email.
The duration can be manually entered along with a custom rate as needed.
What if I forget to adjust the time?
Within Clio Manage the time can be added by selecting "Add time" within the communications tab of the related matter.
What happens when I file an email without an associated contact in Clio?
The new version of the Outlook Add-In no longer requires emails to have a pre-existing contact in Clio prior to being filed. When an email is sent to Clio without an associated contact, it will be located in the communications tab. The email will be displayed with blank to and from fields and can be edited at any time.
What happens when I file an email in my inbox? Do other users at my firm see that same email as filed?
The Outlook add-in operates on a single user permission model. This means that whatever is filed by one user is not duplicated in another users account regardless of the fact that they may be under the same accounts.
For firm wide visibility details of a filed email can be found within the communications subtab of that specific matter in Clio Manage.
If I have existing folders in Outlook what will happen if I connect to Clio?
Your old folder will be retained and a new set of folders mirroring your Clio folder will appear. Please note that the folders in Outlook are collapsable.
Can I adjust the folder structure in the Outlook Add-in?
At this time this isn’t functionality we support.
I use other email clients. Can I use the Outlook Add-In as well?
Multiple email clients can be used. Most firms use the Microsoft Office ecosystem and as a result Outlook is a popular email client.
If the email client integrates directly into Clio and has folder management, we advise to switch to the Outlook Add-In. The reason for this is the risk of creating duplicate folders from Clio Manage.
Please note we do not support email domains provided by GoDaddy.
What are my options for bulk filing?
At this time there is no bulk filing. If you would like to submit your feedback about this feature, please contact us either through email, the in-app chat, or via our Clio Support Center at +1-888-858-2546 ext 2.
How secure is the Outlook Add-In?
Within the Outlook Add-in, your matter folders are mirrored from Clio Manage. This means you do not have to download a file from the web and re-upload to attach to an email. This protects your emails behind a layer of Clio user authentication.
The add-in capabilities section in the appsource listing for the Outlook add-in states that Clio "can read or modify the contents of any item in your mailbox." Does Clio access the information in my inbox?
We take the privacy/security of your information very seriously. That language is a canned disclaimer by Microsoft and there isn’t much room to modify it.
In order to file emails into Manage the add-in only grabs the content and adds it to an email log. Clio cannot access data without your permission. Here is a list of what the add-in does to file an email:
- Apply a “Filed to Clio” category label to existing messages (if requested as shown in the photo)
- Move emails to organize them within the user’s own Outlook file structure (if requested as shown in the photo)
- Access senders, subject, body content, attachments, and their timestamps to copy their information into Clio
Here is a photo of where you have the option to enable or disable the functionality mentioned above.
What devices is the Outlook Add-in compatible with?
The Outlook Add-in is available for PC and Mac computers on Outlook 2016 or higher with a Microsoft 365 Business subscription. The Clio Outlook Add-In is not available on Mobile.
The Outlook Add-in only works with Microsoft-backed email accounts. You can view email accounts from other providers in Outlook, but you cannot use the add-in with these emails.
The Outlook Add-in is not compatible with Exchange Servers or third-party Microsoft 365 accounts.
Can multiple emails be connected to the same Outlook Add-in?
No. Based on our Terms of Service we support only 1 email per account. it’s designed to be just 1 email to 1 Clio account. There is also an option to auto-forward emails between emails if needed.
Email aliases also do not work with the new Outlook add-in. This is because Microsoft doesn’t “show” us all the aliases associated with the email when we a user is authenticated.
A primary alias can be set and this will change what email is used to log into Outlook and O365. This is not recommended.
Please note that if there are multiple user Clio Manage accounts with separate Outlook instances any email filed in one outlook instance will not appear in the other.
Can I use both versions of Clio's Outlook Add-in?
You can; however, we encourage migration to the new add-in because the legacy version will be deprecated.
Why do I have to keep logging into my Clio Manage account when I use the Add-in?
The Outlook Add-in will be logged out of Clio Manage after 4 hours in inactivity. Users will need to log back in to continue using the Add-in.
Where can I find more information on the Outlook Add-In?
Check out the plugin page.
If you’re an existing Clio Manage customer and need help with the Outlook Add-In, please contact support@clio.com.