How this Texas-based law firm builds businesses, communities, and more with Clio

Creedon PLLC

2017

Year Founded
6-10

Number of Staff
2017

Started Using Clio
Frisco, Texas, USA

Location
Flat Fee

Hourly

Fee Types
Business

Intellectual Property

Practice Areas

Creedon PLLC, a B Corp Certified business law and intellectual property firm headquartered in Frisco, Texas, is the recipient of the 2022 Reisman Community Champion Award, which celebrates firms who give back and improve their communities.

As a true trailblazer and community champion, it was our pleasure to award Creedon PLLC with the 2022 Reisman Community Champion Award—and to support them every step of the way.

Living—and practicing—authentically

James Creedon, the founder of Creedon PLLC, has always marched to the beat of his own drum—literally. From dropping out of high school to drumming in a punk band to riding freight trains across the country, he’s lived an unconventional life.

Later, as a New York City paramedic, James gained a first-hand understanding of the importance of service. After serving at Ground Zero on 9/11, he became committed to living a life with deeper meaning. This commitment and James’s interest in public service led him to law school.

Interestingly, James joined the military and became an army officer in law school—another unconventional move that ultimately fueled his interest in service work. After graduating law school and working in private practice, James decided to open his own law firm—one where he could live his vision of service by marrying service to his clients, community, and the planet.

“The whole story of our firm is summed up in our mission statement: we help inspiring people build one amazing future. Our goal is to help inspiring people feel energized about the future. Our firm connects service to our planet, community, and clients with an ethical form of practice, where I feel like we can be the best lawyers we can be and the best people we can be simultaneously.”

Shaping communities, one business at a time

Creedon PLLC provides intellectual property and business services to clients worldwide. James thinks of Creedon PLLC as a “branding” firm, meaning they help businesses get started, grow and scale, and handle litigation when necessary. As James notes, “part of what we’re trying to do is build a road map for those companies. How do you grow and scale successfully so that you can bring in new talent and opportunities while protecting the business you’ve already developed?”

And, with Clio’s cloud-based software, Creedon PLLC’s attorneys help clients worldwide.

“Being based in the cloud allows our attorneys to be anywhere and our clients to be anywhere, and we can serve them more efficiently by thinking about their needs. Not just in a local or national scope, but an international scope.”

Baking service into the bones of the firm

When he started Creedon PLLC, James knew he needed to “bake the idea of service into the bones of the firm.” So, he made two commitments to his community: set aside 5 percent of the firm’s gross revenue for good works in the local community and 5 percent of the firm’s time for service projects and pro bono work. James calls this commitment the “One Future Initiative” and, through this program, Creedon PLLC has created massive change—and not just in their local community. They have also offset their carbon emissions for all employees—both at home and at work—and are a climate-positive workforce.

How Creedon PLLC tracks commitments, onboards, and more with Clio

James says that Clio “has been central to growing our firm. It makes us more efficient in one place from any laptop that any lawyer has.” He’s been with Clio since starting Creedon PLLC—here are just a few of the reasons why he intends to stick with our software.

Software that grows with you

James is particularly fond of the connection Clio offers. Using integrations, his phone system, trademark docketing system, and calendaring system integrate seamlessly into Clio. And, as his firm grows and scales—and even as clients’ needs change—he’ll always be able to find tools to help with Clio’s App Directory of over 200 integrations.

“There’s a whole directory of app integrations that we can use as our firm grows and scales. Even now, we are connected with Clio through our phone system, our trademark docketing system, and our calendaring system, so all the information that we use as a firm integrates into one platform that makes sure everyone in the firm is on the same page.”

Payment options that work – and keep your financials up to date

James is particularly fond of Clio Payments, Clio Manage’s built-in payment processing software. With Clio Payments, Creedon PLLC can quickly and easily set up clients for payment (regardless of their payment method), allowing the firm to connect with clients quickly and get down to business.

“My favorite part of Clio Payments is the way it allows us to easily onboard our clients. Once we send out our engagement letter, we can easily send a trust request to get a retainer in place. And from that email, clients can simply click and make the payment. That money goes into our bank account and all the information is captured immediately in Clio. There’s no need for us to manually reconcile our trust accounts. Clio does that for us, and that onboarding is critical because clients want to get connected with the law firm in a quick, easy, and understandable way.”

Not only is Clio Payments wowing James and his team: it’s wowing clients, too. In addition to sending easy, seamless trust requests to clients by email, Creedon PLLC clients can pay online using eCheck or credit card through Clio Payments.

“From our client’s point of view, one of the best parts of Clio Payments is it allows clients to make payment via eCheck instead of credit card or by mail. And, of course, Clio Payments makes that very easy. They can simply enter their data and the whole transaction is automatically processed. Clio automatically reconciles payments with our bank accounts and provides all the reporting in one place. We know about our credit card payments and eChecks in one simple location and we can easily get a report each month.”

Effortless invoicing

For Creedon PLLC, invoicing is a breeze. With Clio Payments, they can automate large parts of their invoicing, including invoice generation, review, and emails. What’s more, you can finalize multiple invoices at once. When the client receives their invoice, they’ll find a button or QR code they can use to pay immediately.

“Clio allows me to do all of my invoicing automatically. We’re able to quickly send invoices out to multiple clients simultaneously with an attached PDF and payment link. It’s all put into one place. So an individual practitioner or a firm that’s growing and scaling can do all their invoicing in a single day, if not within a few hours, by going through, selecting your clients, and sending out the invoices. Clio has worked to make the system more efficient and I know it’s going to get even better as time goes on.”

Easy, breezy onboarding for staff

As James notes, getting started with Clio was surprisingly easy. He appreciated the intuitive user experience Clio provided, along with the easy access to customer support via online chat, phone, or email. Not to mention, selecting Clio’s cloud-based software meant firm members could access Clio from any laptop or location.

“I remember when I first started with Clio. I was confused about trust accounting and how to process it. Someone walked me through the process and spent about 20 minutes on the phone helping me make sure my system was set up properly. Having all that support meant that I was able to get my firm going more efficiently and effectively from day one.”

New attorneys have taken note, too. James’s new staff members have consistently called Clio “the best platform that they’ve worked with.”

“As we grow our team, new attorneys consistently tell us that Clio is the best platform that they’ve worked with because it’s so easy to get on board and learn the system. There are so many videos that are available whenever you have questions or need support. Onboarding a new attorney into Clio is probably the simplest part of bringing a new attorney on to our team.”

A central “to-do” list

It’s safe to say that Creedon PLLC has a lot on the go. Between their busy practice and One Future Initiative, keeping track of their tasks is easy with Clio. With Clio, Creedon PLLC can easily track their “to-dos” and many other aspects of business, which is indispensable when making service decisions. As James notes, “to make serving your community a priority, it has to go into the metrics you think about as a law firm”.

“Clio allows you to track your commitments, whether it’s tracking the time that you spend, the number of clients you’re working with, or the number of dollars coming in. We could not be as efficient as we are and as focused as we are on our One Future initiative without having a tool like Clio to help us stay on track and provide great service.”

Making time for what’s important

Taking care of clients takes time—and that’s just the legal part! As every firm knows, client administration can take much time out of your day. That’s why James appreciates Clio’s automation capabilities and how they allow him to spend more time focusing on what matters most.

“Clio makes for a great client experience because it allows us to focus on client service and not on firm administration. When we make the administration of our firm more efficient, it gives us more time, energy, and resources to focus on what matters most—service clients and providing excellent legal assistance.”

Clio software: setting firms up for success from day one

Still not convinced that Clio is right for you? Take it from James, who has recommended Clio to many colleagues and suggests starting with a free trial.

“As a growing law firm, we’ve been very happy with Clio. I’ve recommended it to many of my colleagues who are using other platforms and anyone who hasn’t tried it. Get the free trial, use the platform, and see how easy it is to run your firm.”

James thinks you’ll be hooked. After all, Clio helped set him up for success from day one.

“I’m confident that any firm that switches over to Clio will be pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to get onboarded and become successful from day one. Clio is a great platform for law firms of all sizes and I recommend it to any law firm I work with.”

Thanks for the glowing reviews, James! But enough about us. What does the future hold for James and Creedon PLLC?

Working towards a brighter future—with Clio

James’s vision for Creedon PLLC’s future involves thoughtful expansion. He anticipates hiring more attorneys and expanding to other states in the coming year.

What won’t be changing? James’s passion for building community and working towards a brighter future. And, with Clio on his side, he’s confident he’ll be able to stay the course when carrying out legal and charitable work.

“Clio enables us to give back to our community by helping us to track the work that we’re actually doing. We have to make sure we’re true to our commitments—actually following through on what we say we’re going to do. Using Clio, we can track how much time we spend on pro bono projects. We can track our financial income each month to decide how much of a commitment to make to local non-profit organizations. Clio’s data collecting and reporting are both key parts of what we do to be a community champion.”

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