In two separate announcements this week, Clio rolled out two initiatives aimed at the same problem \u2014 getting practicing lawyers comfortable with AI. One puts AI software directly into lawyers\u2019 hands at no cost; the other tries to teach the profession how to use it. On Monday, the company announced the Legal AI Accelerator, a [\u2026]<\/p>\n
In two separate announcements this week, Clio rolled out two initiatives aimed at the same problem \u2014 getting practicing lawyers comfortable with AI. One puts AI software directly into lawyers\u2019 hands at no cost; the other tries to teach the profession how to use it.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the company announced the Legal AI Accelerator<\/a>, a free education and certification program, paired with a pledge to train 25,000 legal professionals on legal AI before ClioCon 2026, which starts Oct. 26.\u00a0Clio says it is the legal industry\u2019s largest AI training initiative to date.<\/p>\n Then yesterday, at the annual convention of The Florida Bar<\/a> in Orlando, Clio and the bar unveiled the Preferred Bar Program, under which eligible bar members get four months of free, unlimited access to Clio Work \u2014 the company\u2019s AI workspace \u2014 followed by limited access for the duration of the agreement.<\/p>\n Both announcements share a common theme, which is that AI competency for legal professionals has shifted from a differentiator to a baseline expectation.<\/p>\n \u201cState bars are codifying AI use, mandatory AI CLE is on the horizon across the United States, and clients are starting to ask about firm AI policies,\u201d Clio said in the accelerator announcement.<\/p>\n The Florida Bar Deal<\/strong><\/p>\n Clio says that The Florida Bar the first U.S. state bar to offer members free legal AI as a membership benefit, and that the Preferred Bar Program its first deployment of a model the company says it eventually wants to extend to every practicing lawyer in the country.<\/p>\n Beyond access to Clio Work, the program bundles in a structured training curriculum on responsible and ethical AI use, offered both live and on-demand, and a certification path for members who complete it.<\/p>\n Phil Rosenthal<\/a>, Clio\u2019s head of bar and academic partnerships, said that the collaboration offers an alternative to the \u201cethical minefield\u201d of using generic AI tools, citing risks to client confidentiality and hallucination.<\/p>\n \u201cTogether, The Florida Bar and Clio offer a better path with the launch of the Preferred Bar Program, Rosenthal said. \u201cIt gives lawyers free access to state-of-the-art, safe, and secure legal AI with Clio Work.\u2019<\/p>\n