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How a solo personal injury lawyer secured over $1,500,000 in settlements in his first year—with Clio

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Rudder Law Group

  • 2021

    Year Founded

  • Solo

    Number of Staff

  • 2021

    Started Using Clio

  • Ontario, Canada

    Location

  • Contingency

    Fee Types

  • Civil Litigation

    Personal Injury

    Practice Areas

Andrew Leroy Rudder, the founder of Rudder Law Group, had an epiphany at his law school graduation. His grandmother remarked on Mahatma Gandhi’s oft-referenced quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Andrew reflects, “it helped me realize that if I sit and wait for other people to be that change, I’ll be waiting a lifetime. So, for me, I had to step up and take action.”

“I’m used to being on the other side where, as a black man, prior to being a lawyer, systemic racism took me out of certain opportunities. I know what it’s like to be on the other side and be denied access to something. So, for me, helping someone who’s being denied access to justice is so important to me.”

So, Andrew took action. He started his law firm to promote further inclusivity, belonging, equity, and diversity in the legal profession. His law firm name, while reflecting his surname, also reflects his practice approach: “Let us be the rudder that steers your ship in the right direction.”

A voice for catastrophic impairment clients

In his first year as a solo personal injury and catastrophic impairment lawyer, Andrew secured over $1,500,000 in settlements. But he’s not just providing excellent services for his clients—he’s changing the Canadian legal system.

One of Andrew’s clients, an Indigenous teenager with a traumatic brain injury, was denied a catastrophic impairment designation by her insurer, which denied her funding for essential treatments and rehabilitation. Andrew not only fought the insurer to overturn their decision but went further—he lobbied politicians, raised awareness, and ultimately persuaded Ontario’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority to amend the law.

As the 2022 Reisman Award winner for Best New Law Firm, we’re thrilled to share Andrew’s story—and highlight how Clio has helped him achieve so much in his first year as a solo personal injury lawyer.

What led Rudder Law Group to Clio

Andrew was partly motivated to start his law firm for work-life balance. That meant having the opportunity to travel while running his firm—so he knew he needed cloud-based legal practice management software. His current system—lacking a central location for leads and automation—wasn’t going to cut it.

“Part of starting my own firm meant having the freedom to do what I want and have a good work-life balance. I had that a-ha moment when I said, I need something that’s cloud-based, that will help with my intake organization and automation. Through research, I came across Clio, which was at the top of my list. I absolutely fell in love. Everything’s just so much smoother.”

How Andrew uses Clio to help personal injury clients

Beyond allowing Andrew to work wherever he wants, Clio has become an indispensable part of his practice as a solo personal injury lawyer. Here are just a few of the reasons why Andrew loves Clio.

Client growth for a new firm on the go

As any solo practitioner knows, Andrew had to become much more than a lawyer when he decided to branch out on his own: “I had to be a lawyer and a business owner. I had to manage my finances and also manage all of my marketing and advertising. Being able to juggle all those things at the same time was very difficult.”

Clio Grow helped Andrew automate lead generation and parts of his client intake process so he can focus on existing client work while generating new leads—and future revenue—while working abroad.

“Starting a new law firm, it’s so important for you to generate leads and get clients retained. I can’t imagine myself doing that without Clio Grow, especially with the lifestyle that I live, traveling and being on the road so much. There’s no other legal software out there that can do it.”

A practice partner for solo attorneys

It might seem hard to imagine how Andrew has accomplished so much in his first year as a solo practitioner. Not only has he achieved great things in the legal sphere, but he’s managed to do a lot of heavy lifting while traveling! So, how does he do it? With Clio on his side, Andrew has access to a wealth of tools and resources covering everything from client intake to billing. Andrew now spends a lot less time on administrative busywork and can focus on legal work that matters.

“I love Clio Manage and all of the resources and tools that are available to me. As a lawyer, I have to focus my time on the 20% of things that bring in 80% of the revenue. I can’t focus on doing some of the other things that take up my time and Clio Manage really helps fill that gap.”

Unparalleled document management

Personal injury claims come with an endless supply of documents, and firms need software that helps them navigate these files quickly and easily. With Clio Manage, Andrew can easily manage, edit, and find documents relating to a given case from anywhere and share them with collaborators. As Andrew notes, Clio’s document management features are unparalleled.

“As a personal injury lawyer, I deal with a lot of documents, especially at the deposition or examination for discovery stage. Keeping all of those documents organized and accessible and enabling me to edit them whenever I need to and share them with whoever I need to. There is no other legal software out there that’s better than Clio Manage and their advanced documents software.”

A compass for deadlines and task management

Litigators are all too familiar with the importance of deadlines—and the consequences of missing them. Personal injury cases are no exception. Personal injury lawyers contend with court deadlines, scheduling interviews with witnesses and experts, and other necessary milestones daily to take their clients’ cases to the next level. That’s why Andrew uses Clio’s task management software daily (even on the weekends!) to keep his practice on track and prioritize work.

“I use Clio’s task management software everyday. Sunday, before I start the week, I review the task, I set new tasks that have to be done, and I set the priority. That’s really important to ensure that I complete everything that needs to be done to reach the next milestone of the litigation process.”

A natural fit for personal injury lawyers

Andrew’s personal injury practice has been well served by Clio, and he recommends it to other personal injury lawyers looking for the flexibility, automation, and management that comes from using industry-leading cloud-based legal practice management software.

“I would absolutely recommend Clio to other personal injury lawyers, specifically because it helps you stay organized with the multitude of documents that you have. It helps you be more productive with their task management software and ensures that you get what needs to be done to move your file forward and, ultimately, get closer to resolving your case for your clients.”

Driving change—now and in the future

Andrew’s long-term vision? To continue being the change he wishes to see in the world. He plans to continue advocating for changes in how insurers assess catastrophic injury claims. He also intends to take on more pro bono cases while steering his clients toward resolutions.

“There’s always going to be people who need a lawyer who can’t afford to pay for their services. Being able to help with that access to justice is of utmost importance to me.”

We’re looking forward to seeing what Andrew does in the future and are even more excited to be his legal software program provider of choice.

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