{"id":135707,"date":"2025-10-23T11:49:50","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T19:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/10\/23\/hold-the-gushing-the-clio-ai-announcement-doesnt-necessarily-mean-game-over\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T11:49:50","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T19:49:50","slug":"hold-the-gushing-the-clio-ai-announcement-doesnt-necessarily-mean-game-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/10\/23\/hold-the-gushing-the-clio-ai-announcement-doesnt-necessarily-mean-game-over\/","title":{"rendered":"Hold The Gushing: The Clio AI Announcement Doesn\u2019t Necessarily Mean Game Over"},"content":{"rendered":"

The legal tech world is gushing over\u00a0Clio\u2019s announcement<\/a>\u00a0last week as if the AI landscape just changed forever. Maybe. But anytime people gush, I get\u00a0a little skeptical. \u00a0I thought about this in light of the\u00a0Thomson Reuters<\/a>\u00a0announcement this week of a\u00a0a new partnership with\u00a0DeepJudge<\/a>\u00a0to marry AI tools over both internal firm data and external data.<\/p>\n

As I\u00a0previously discussed<\/a>,\u00a0Clio<\/a>\u00a0offered the blockbuster announcement that\u00a0its AI tools would now work not only on the internal data of a firm but also on external data like cases and statutes.\u00a0Clio\u2019s approach essentially lets customers use one vendor for its AI needs since that vendor can supply the tools for use with internal and external data.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This all under one roof one stop concept has everyone gushing as if the world has completely changed and firms will flock to Clio.<\/p>\n

Indeed, it sounds simpler than\u00a0having to vet and select several vendors. Or cast your fate with vendors with partnerships that could come\u00a0undone.\u00a0Or face the\u00a0decision-making\u00a0paralysis when you have two vendors having to decide anything, potentially impairing creativity and nimbleness.<\/p>\n

But I always get suspicious when everyone seems to conclude that a tech development has changed the world\u00a0right now and forever more.\u00a0As\u00a0Roy Amara<\/a>\u00a0famously said:\u00a0\u201cWe tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.\u201d\u00a0And right now, the Clio\u00a0announcement\u00a0is less than a week old. It might be a tad bit early to declare game over.<\/p>\n

The TR\u00a0<\/strong>Announcement<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0TR\u00a0press release,\u00a0DeepJudge, founded by former Google AI researchers, enables professionals to\u00a0use AI tools and prompts\u00a0across internal knowledge\u00a0bases.\u00a0Again, according to the\u00a0press release, \u201cby integrating\u00a0DeepJudge\u2019s\u00a0AI knowledge platform with CoCounsel Legal, Thomson Reuters will give legal teams a 360-degree view that unifies internal firm know-how and exclusive Thomson\u00a0Reuters content\u2026 This foundation\u00a0enables AI agents to plan and execute multi-step legal tasks, helping professionals automate components of end-to-end workflows with the governance they require.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is yet another attempt at enabling\u00a0lawyers and legal professionals to use AI not only on external data like cases and statutes, but\u00a0also\u00a0on\u00a0internal\u00a0data to get the full\u00a0use. Says Paulina\u00a0Grnarova, CEO and co-founder\u00a0of\u00a0DeepJudge, \u201cWhat sets firms apart is how they leverage their unique assets\u2014their expertise\u00a0and the know-how and work product derived from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sound\u00a0familiar?<\/p>\n

The Hype\u00a0<\/strong>May Be a Bit\u00a0<\/strong>Premature<\/strong><\/p>\n

What\u00a0Grnarova\u00a0says is true,\u00a0which is why so many providers are looking for a way to do\u00a0just this.\u00a0For example, earlier\u00a0this year,\u00a0Harvey<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0LexisNexis<\/a>\u00a0announced a partnership to try to do\u00a0something similar:\u00a0they\u2019re using this partnership\u00a0arrangement to apply the LexisNexis\u00a0substantial\u00a0AI tools to external data\u00a0and\u00a0Harvey customers\u2019 internal data as well. The TR-DeepJudge relationship attempts\u00a0a similar\u00a0integration.<\/p>\n

Those today gushing over what Clio has done\u00a0would\u00a0say\u00a0what\u00a0vendors\u00a0TR and LexisNexis have done\u00a0is now\u00a0sophomoric.\u00a0It reminds\u00a0me of all those who keep declaring the billable hour dead, soon to be replaced by alternative billing models. Maybe someday it will be.\u00a0But we\u2019ve written that obituary more than once.<\/p>\n

So,<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>I\u00a0wonder\u00a0whether it\u00a0might be a little quick to conclude that\u00a0what TR and LN are doing\u00a0is\u00a0really not\u00a0all that significant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If your needs can be met by using tools offered\u00a0through\u00a0the partnership\u00a0model\u00a0from\u00a0by LN\u00a0and now TR,\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0not necessarily a need to change horses just because the world believes Clio has left everyone else in the dust.\u00a0Especially a little\u00a0over a week after the\u00a0announcement.\u00a0Just as there\u2019s no reason to reflexively\u00a0leave the Clio stable because\u00a0TR\u00a0has\u00a0entered\u00a0into\u00a0this partnership. The key is not what all the pundits of the world are saying,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0whether your needs are being met in the best way possible.<\/p>\n

Power Corrupts, Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s another issue at play here too.\u00a0Like\u00a0the tech curmudgeon,\u00a0Cory Doctorow<\/a>,\u00a0I\u2019m always suspicious when one competitor gets too much market power\u00a0and when it ties customers to it because\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0too\u00a0difficult to go someplace else. Clio may be great\u00a0today,\u00a0but\u00a0it got there\u00a0because it\u00a0was\u00a0driven to be great by\u00a0competitive\u00a0forces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If\u00a0too many\u00a0customers\u00a0sign up with Clio,\u00a0there is a risk\u00a0that\u00a0when the competitive edge\u00a0is gone,\u00a0decreased services,\u00a0increased prices, and more\u00a0onerous\u00a0service\u00a0terms\u00a0will\u00a0surface. So,\u00a0it\u2019s good to have competition,\u00a0and as a customer, you need to consider the impact if Clio gets too much market power and the risk it could pose if you sign up.<\/p>\n

Certainly,\u00a0there are advantages\u00a0to using one vendor for everything.\u00a0But\u00a0once you sign\u00a0up with the one vendor, the ability to leave that vendor should services\u00a0decline\u00a0or\u00a0prices\u00a0increase\u00a0is constrained.\u00a0As I\u00a0wrote last week<\/a>,\u00a0it\u00a0would require you to replace that one\u00a0vendor\u00a0with several others to get the same level of\u00a0service. A\u00a0headache that might tempt you to stay with the one when\u00a0you would\u00a0otherwise\u00a0be\u00a0nimbler and more flexible.<\/p>\n

And in a time of change where new AI\u00a0developments\u00a0are announced every day, being nimble may be even more important than ever\u00a0for customers. The\u00a0ability\u00a0to pick and choose\u00a0vendors for tasks enables you to pick the best one\u00a0for the tasks and then flock to another one\u00a0if and when\u00a0a new tool is offered.<\/p>\n

One More\u00a0<\/strong>Thing<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s another issue when pundits rush to judgment about a new product or innovation\u00a0before it\u2019s\u00a0actually tested\u00a0out in the field and the\u00a0hype is proven.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sad\u00a0fact\u00a0too\u00a0many vendors promote products that don\u2019t do everything that\u2019s promised or products that don\u2019t yet exist. Talk to any law firm IT department and you will find that this happens quite often. They pay for X but never get X.\u00a0So\u00a0it\u2019s good to be cautious for a bit before crowning Clio the sweepstakes winner.<\/p>\n

I was talking to\u00a0Debbie Foster<\/a>, CEO of\u00a0Affinity\u00a0Consulting<\/a>, which frequently\u00a0advises\u00a0law firms on technology and its use, recently. She\u00a0told me,\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0really\u00a0easy\u00a0to get up on stage and show a lot of cool things a set of products can do.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0another thing to walk into a conference room full of lawyers\u00a0and get asked hard questions about the\u00a0tools and what they can and\u00a0cannot\u00a0do.\u201d\u00a0That proof is in the pudding: concluding\u00a0a product is revolutionary before it\u2019s put to the\u00a0real-world\u00a0testing\u00a0is premature.<\/p>\n

Write Drunk but Edit Sober<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong. The Clio announcements are significant and should be applauded. They just need to be\u00a0viewed through a\u00a0sobriety\u00a0lens. Just because\u00a0everyone\u00a0jumps on the team Clio bus doesn\u2019t mean\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0right for\u00a0you. In fact, I\u00a0heard several lawyers at Clio express some\u00a0reluctance\u00a0to sign on to an\u00a0all-powerful\u00a0Clio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0old adage:\u00a0write drunk but edit sober applies here.\u00a0Too many of those\u00a0writing about Clio\u00a0right now\u00a0are\u00a0a little drunk with the Clio booze\u00a0right now. They need to sober up.<\/p>\n

\n

Stephen Embry is a lawyer, speaker, blogger, and writer. He publishes\u00a0TechLaw Crossroads<\/a>, a blog devoted to the examination of the tension between technology, the law, and the practice of law<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

The post Hold The Gushing: The Clio AI Announcement Doesn\u2019t Necessarily Mean Game Over<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

The legal tech world is gushing over\u00a0Clio\u2019s announcement<\/a>\u00a0last week as if the AI landscape just changed forever. Maybe. But anytime people gush, I get\u00a0a little skeptical. \u00a0I thought about this in light of the\u00a0Thomson Reuters<\/a>\u00a0announcement this week of a\u00a0a new partnership with\u00a0DeepJudge<\/a>\u00a0to marry AI tools over both internal firm data and external data.<\/p>\n

As I\u00a0previously discussed<\/a>,\u00a0Clio<\/a>\u00a0offered the blockbuster announcement that\u00a0its AI tools would now work not only on the internal data of a firm but also on external data like cases and statutes.\u00a0Clio\u2019s approach essentially lets customers use one vendor for its AI needs since that vendor can supply the tools for use with internal and external data.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This all under one roof one stop concept has everyone gushing as if the world has completely changed and firms will flock to Clio.<\/p>\n

Indeed, it sounds simpler than\u00a0having to vet and select several vendors. Or cast your fate with vendors with partnerships that could come\u00a0undone.\u00a0Or face the\u00a0decision-making\u00a0paralysis when you have two vendors having to decide anything, potentially impairing creativity and nimbleness.<\/p>\n

But I always get suspicious when everyone seems to conclude that a tech development has changed the world\u00a0right now and forever more.\u00a0As\u00a0Roy Amara<\/a>\u00a0famously said:\u00a0\u201cWe tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.\u201d\u00a0And right now, the Clio\u00a0announcement\u00a0is less than a week old. It might be a tad bit early to declare game over.<\/p>\n

The TR\u00a0<\/strong>Announcement<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0TR\u00a0press release,\u00a0DeepJudge, founded by former Google AI researchers, enables professionals to\u00a0use AI tools and prompts\u00a0across internal knowledge\u00a0bases.\u00a0Again, according to the\u00a0press release, \u201cby integrating\u00a0DeepJudge\u2019s\u00a0AI knowledge platform with CoCounsel Legal, Thomson Reuters will give legal teams a 360-degree view that unifies internal firm know-how and exclusive Thomson\u00a0Reuters content\u2026 This foundation\u00a0enables AI agents to plan and execute multi-step legal tasks, helping professionals automate components of end-to-end workflows with the governance they require.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is yet another attempt at enabling\u00a0lawyers and legal professionals to use AI not only on external data like cases and statutes, but\u00a0also\u00a0on\u00a0internal\u00a0data to get the full\u00a0use. Says Paulina\u00a0Grnarova, CEO and co-founder\u00a0of\u00a0DeepJudge, \u201cWhat sets firms apart is how they leverage their unique assets\u2014their expertise\u00a0and the know-how and work product derived from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sound\u00a0familiar?<\/p>\n

The Hype\u00a0<\/strong>May Be a Bit\u00a0<\/strong>Premature<\/strong><\/p>\n

What\u00a0Grnarova\u00a0says is true,\u00a0which is why so many providers are looking for a way to do\u00a0just this.\u00a0For example, earlier\u00a0this year,\u00a0Harvey<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0LexisNexis<\/a>\u00a0announced a partnership to try to do\u00a0something similar:\u00a0they\u2019re using this partnership\u00a0arrangement to apply the LexisNexis\u00a0substantial\u00a0AI tools to external data\u00a0and\u00a0Harvey customers\u2019 internal data as well. The TR-DeepJudge relationship attempts\u00a0a similar\u00a0integration.<\/p>\n

Those today gushing over what Clio has done\u00a0would\u00a0say\u00a0what\u00a0vendors\u00a0TR and LexisNexis have done\u00a0is now\u00a0sophomoric.\u00a0It reminds\u00a0me of all those who keep declaring the billable hour dead, soon to be replaced by alternative billing models. Maybe someday it will be.\u00a0But we\u2019ve written that obituary more than once.<\/p>\n

So,<\/strong>I\u00a0wonder\u00a0whether it\u00a0might be a little quick to conclude that\u00a0what TR and LN are doing\u00a0is\u00a0really not\u00a0all that significant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If your needs can be met by using tools offered\u00a0through\u00a0the partnership\u00a0model\u00a0from\u00a0by LN\u00a0and now TR,\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0not necessarily a need to change horses just because the world believes Clio has left everyone else in the dust.\u00a0Especially a little\u00a0over a week after the\u00a0announcement.\u00a0Just as there\u2019s no reason to reflexively\u00a0leave the Clio stable because\u00a0TR\u00a0has\u00a0entered\u00a0into\u00a0this partnership. The key is not what all the pundits of the world are saying,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0whether your needs are being met in the best way possible.<\/p>\n

Power Corrupts, Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s another issue at play here too.\u00a0Like\u00a0the tech curmudgeon,\u00a0Cory Doctorow<\/a>,\u00a0I\u2019m always suspicious when one competitor gets too much market power\u00a0and when it ties customers to it because\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0too\u00a0difficult to go someplace else. Clio may be great\u00a0today,\u00a0but\u00a0it got there\u00a0because it\u00a0was\u00a0driven to be great by\u00a0competitive\u00a0forces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If\u00a0too many\u00a0customers\u00a0sign up with Clio,\u00a0there is a risk\u00a0that\u00a0when the competitive edge\u00a0is gone,\u00a0decreased services,\u00a0increased prices, and more\u00a0onerous\u00a0service\u00a0terms\u00a0will\u00a0surface. So,\u00a0it\u2019s good to have competition,\u00a0and as a customer, you need to consider the impact if Clio gets too much market power and the risk it could pose if you sign up.<\/p>\n

Certainly,\u00a0there are advantages\u00a0to using one vendor for everything.\u00a0But\u00a0once you sign\u00a0up with the one vendor, the ability to leave that vendor should services\u00a0decline\u00a0or\u00a0prices\u00a0increase\u00a0is constrained.\u00a0As I\u00a0wrote last week<\/a>,\u00a0it\u00a0would require you to replace that one\u00a0vendor\u00a0with several others to get the same level of\u00a0service. A\u00a0headache that might tempt you to stay with the one when\u00a0you would\u00a0otherwise\u00a0be\u00a0nimbler and more flexible.<\/p>\n

And in a time of change where new AI\u00a0developments\u00a0are announced every day, being nimble may be even more important than ever\u00a0for customers. The\u00a0ability\u00a0to pick and choose\u00a0vendors for tasks enables you to pick the best one\u00a0for the tasks and then flock to another one\u00a0if and when\u00a0a new tool is offered.<\/p>\n

One More\u00a0<\/strong>Thing<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s another issue when pundits rush to judgment about a new product or innovation\u00a0before it\u2019s\u00a0actually tested\u00a0out in the field and the\u00a0hype is proven.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sad\u00a0fact\u00a0too\u00a0many vendors promote products that don\u2019t do everything that\u2019s promised or products that don\u2019t yet exist. Talk to any law firm IT department and you will find that this happens quite often. They pay for X but never get X.\u00a0So\u00a0it\u2019s good to be cautious for a bit before crowning Clio the sweepstakes winner.<\/p>\n

I was talking to\u00a0Debbie Foster<\/a>, CEO of\u00a0Affinity\u00a0Consulting<\/a>, which frequently\u00a0advises\u00a0law firms on technology and its use, recently. She\u00a0told me,\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0really\u00a0easy\u00a0to get up on stage and show a lot of cool things a set of products can do.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0another thing to walk into a conference room full of lawyers\u00a0and get asked hard questions about the\u00a0tools and what they can and\u00a0cannot\u00a0do.\u201d\u00a0That proof is in the pudding: concluding\u00a0a product is revolutionary before it\u2019s put to the\u00a0real-world\u00a0testing\u00a0is premature.<\/p>\n

Write Drunk but Edit Sober<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong. The Clio announcements are significant and should be applauded. They just need to be\u00a0viewed through a\u00a0sobriety\u00a0lens. Just because\u00a0everyone\u00a0jumps on the team Clio bus doesn\u2019t mean\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0right for\u00a0you. In fact, I\u00a0heard several lawyers at Clio express some\u00a0reluctance\u00a0to sign on to an\u00a0all-powerful\u00a0Clio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0old adage:\u00a0write drunk but edit sober applies here.\u00a0Too many of those\u00a0writing about Clio\u00a0right now\u00a0are\u00a0a little drunk with the Clio booze\u00a0right now. They need to sober up.<\/p>\n

\n

Stephen Embry is a lawyer, speaker, blogger, and writer. He publishes\u00a0TechLaw Crossroads<\/a>, a blog devoted to the examination of the tension between technology, the law, and the practice of law<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The legal tech world is gushing over\u00a0Clio\u2019s announcement\u00a0last week as if the AI landscape just changed forever. Maybe. But anytime people gush, I get\u00a0a little skeptical. \u00a0I thought about this in light of the\u00a0Thomson Reuters\u00a0announcement this week of a\u00a0a new partnership with\u00a0DeepJudge\u00a0to marry AI tools over both internal firm data and external data. As I\u00a0previously […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":135708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Clio-Logo-KHlpBx.png?fit=320%2C240&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}