Clio is bringing business phone calls into its legal work platform with Clio Phones, a new system designed to connect client conversations with matter records, AI-generated summaries, and prepared time entries.
Announced by CEO Jack Newton on stage at ClioCon 2026, Clio Phones is available for trial in select U.S. states. The company says wider availability is coming, but has not announced a Canadian launch date.
The product targets the administrative work that follows a phone call: recording advice, relaying instructions, updating a matter, and reconstructing billable time.
According to figures cited by Clio, surveyed firms reported spending an average of three hours a week on post-call administration and losing 4.6 billable hours a month to unlogged call time.
“We’re fundamentally rethinking the role of a phone system in legal practice, using AI to turn conversations into a source of intelligence that deepens our understanding of a lawyer’s work,” said Newton.
Firms can establish a business number or transfer an existing one, assign lines to lawyers and staff, and direct incoming calls to team members wherever they are working.
When a call comes in, Clio Phones surfaces the relevant contact, lead, or matter, giving the person answering access to information already on record.
With recording enabled, the system generates transcripts and summaries, while retaining call logs and recordings for reference. It also prepares time entries capturing a call’s duration, date, and description, with associated records attached to the appropriate contact or matter.
The connection is intended to support both intake and ongoing representation. Information from an initial inquiry can help a firm evaluate a prospective client, while instructions and decisions shared during later calls become part of the matter’s record.
For lawyers taking over a file or working with colleagues, those records could reduce the need to reconstruct what was discussed and what still requires follow-up.
Clio positions the phone system as another source of context for its broader AI platform, connecting information shared in conversations to the legal and operational work that follows.