My Practice Now Runs on Clio — Including a Buy Now, Pay Later Option
My practice now runs on Clio: a secure client portal, online payments, and a buy now, pay later option for legal fees.
Last reviewed
I have moved my entire practice onto Clio, one of the most widely used practice management platforms in the legal industry. For my clients, the switch shows up in two ways: everything about your case now lives in one secure place, and paying for a lawyer just got more flexible — including a buy now, pay later option that can split legal fees into monthly payments.
The part families ask about first: pay later
School problems do not wait for a convenient month. A dismissal letter or a conduct charge lands mid-semester, the response window is measured in days, and a lawyer was not in the family budget.
Clio’s payment tools are built for that reality. Invoices can be paid online in seconds by card or eCheck. And when spreading the cost out would help, Clio Pay Later lets you split the fee into monthly installments through Affirm — you apply in about two minutes at checkout, and approval and terms are Affirm’s. Here is the part that matters for your case: with Pay Later, the fee is taken care of up front and you repay Affirm over time, so your matter starts on schedule instead of waiting for a payday.
Nothing about how I set fees changed. Almost everything I do is a flat fee, agreed in writing before you commit. Pay Later just adds a way to pay it.
One secure portal for your whole case
Clio also gives every client a secure portal — Clio for Clients — in any web browser or as a free phone app with Face ID sign-in. It holds the whole case:
Messages stay in one encrypted thread instead of scattered emails. Documents go both directions — the app’s scanner turns a hearing notice on the kitchen table into a clean PDF in under a minute. Dates for the matter are visible without digging. Invoices live there too, with online payment built in.
Even signing up is simpler: your engagement agreement arrives for electronic signature and is signed from your phone — no printing, no scanning.
School cases run on sensitive records — disciplinary files, medical and disability documentation, transcripts. Those do not belong in a long email forwarding chain. Now they are in one organized, secure place, and both of us can pull up any page of the file in seconds.
Reaching me stayed exactly this simple
The portal is where the file lives — it is not a wall between us. You still communicate with me, the attorney, directly: call or text (561) 308-9119, or email zachary@astudentslawyer.com. I read every message myself, and you hear back the same business day — the next if you write at night or on a weekend. Quick question, new email from the dean, a screenshot you want me to see tonight? Text it. I try to be as accessible as possible, because in student cases the facts move fast and the deadlines are short.
The takeaway
The practice runs on Clio now: one secure portal for everything in your case, electronic signing, online payment — and a buy now, pay later option through Affirm when paying over time is the difference-maker. If something has gone wrong at school, tell me what happened, email zachary@astudentslawyer.com, or call or text (561) 308-9119 — and we will get it organized from the first hour.
Prefer email? Write to zachary@astudentslawyer.com with the same facts.
Tell me what happened
Four facts start the conversation — your school and program, what happened and where it stands, any deadline, and whether you are still enrolled. What comes back: whether the matter fits this practice and, where one can responsibly be given, a preliminary figure. I read every message myself, and you hear back the same business day — the next one if you write in the evening or on a weekend.
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Confidential. Sending a message does not commit you to a paid engagement.
Rather talk it through? Call or text (561) 308-9119
It comes straight to me. Prefer a set time? Book a free 15-minute call.
Or email zachary@astudentslawyer.com — a few sentences is plenty.
Facing this now?
Deadlines in these matters are often short. Reach out early and tell me what is happening.
A campus decision can follow a student for years.
A boutique practice can be flexible in a way a larger firm often cannot. Depending
on the matter, that can take any of these forms.
From the very beginning
The earlier I'm involved, the more options stay open. I can step in at the first notice, charge, or letter — before a deadline closes or a statement is given — and help shape the matter from the outset.
Behind the scenes
Where a process limits an advisor's speaking role, I work in a consulting capacity — reading the policies, preparing you and your statement, and drafting submissions and appeals — without ever appearing.
Complex, high-stakes matters
Cases that cut across academic, disciplinary, civil-rights, and financial lines — the ones that don't fit a single box — are squarely the work this practice is built for.
Second opinions
If you already have counsel, or simply want another read before you act, I provide focused second opinions at a reasonable, agreed cost.
Ongoing counsel
For students, families, and advisors who want a lawyer on call as a situation develops, I'm available on an ongoing monthly basis.
Worked out to fit
The scope and the fee are discussed up front and structured to fit the matter. The goal is a practical arrangement that gets the situation handled.
The scope of any engagement and the fee are set out in a written agreement. Contacting the firm does not create an attorney–client relationship.
A campus decision can follow a student for years.
A boutique practice can be flexible in a way a larger firm often cannot. Depending
on the matter, that can take any of these forms.
From the very beginning
The earlier I'm involved, the more options stay open. I can step in at the first notice, charge, or letter — before a deadline closes or a statement is given — and help shape the matter from the outset.
Behind the scenes
Where a process limits an advisor's speaking role, I work in a consulting capacity — reading the policies, preparing you and your statement, and drafting submissions and appeals — without ever appearing.
Complex, high-stakes matters
Cases that cut across academic, disciplinary, civil-rights, and financial lines — the ones that don't fit a single box — are squarely the work this practice is built for.
Second opinions
If you already have counsel, or simply want another read before you act, I provide focused second opinions at a reasonable, agreed cost.
Ongoing counsel
For students, families, and advisors who want a lawyer on call as a situation develops, I'm available on an ongoing monthly basis.
Worked out to fit
The scope and the fee are discussed up front and structured to fit the matter. The goal is a practical arrangement that gets the situation handled.
The scope of any engagement and the fee are set out in a written agreement. Contacting the firm does not create an attorney–client relationship.