Clio Beyond the Basics: Customization, Underutilized Features, and Billing That Gets You Paid

Jeffrey Schoenberger, Senior Consultant | Affinity Consulting Group

Jeffrey Schoenberger advises law firms on practice management software, with Clio and document automation among his core areas of expertise. A former practicing attorney, he has been a legal technology consultant with Affinity Consulting Group since 2012, centering his work on workflow design and on helping firms get more value from the tools they already own — delivered through CLE teaching, writing, and one-on-one consulting. He is known for breaking complex technology concepts into manageable pieces that lawyers can put to work in their practices right away.

• Education & Credentials

Jeffrey earned his B.A. in History from Yale University in 2002 and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2008.

• Recognition & Leadership

At Affinity, Jeffrey leads the Practice Management Advisory program, the group’s advisory practice for firm management software, where his title is Senior Consultant / Mac Specialist. He also serves as a business coach and Lab Business Strategist for Lawyerist, where colleagues point to his knack for producing the moment a technology concept finally clicks for an attorney mid-training.

• Professional Involvement

Jeffrey is a frequent CLE presenter, writer, and podcaster whose programs center on workflow design, document creation and automation tools, AI, and making smarter technology decisions in everyday practice. His speaking catalog includes Small Firm Tech in the Age of AI, Use Microsoft’s Copilot to Keep Your Firm Flying High, and Together at Last: Practical Collaboration Tools in Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, along with practical cybersecurity and digital-signature programs for solo and small-firm practitioners; his podcasting includes the document-management series Docs on the Rocks.

• Experience

Jeffrey’s consulting work covers practice management platforms — Clio among his named areas of expertise — together with document automation and the configuration that makes a firm’s systems and processes work effectively, supported by depth across Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, and the Apple ecosystem for law practice.

Before joining Affinity, Jeffrey practiced from 2009 to 2012 as an Equal Justice Works / AmeriCorps Legal Fellow with the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati, defending homeowners in foreclosure litigation — discovery, mortgage-document analysis, and summary judgment motion practice — and counseling more than 130 distressed homeowners on rapidly evolving government and bank loss-mitigation and loan-modification programs. He represented 40 tenants in eviction cases through winning bench trials and favorable settlements, handled more than 50 housing-conditions matters, and personally represented divorce clients in Hamilton and Butler Counties, and led seminars training non-profit housing counselors on foreclosure prevention programs.

SESSION 1 – Customization and Underutilized Features | Jeff Schoenberger | 2:30pm – 3:30pm

Clio includes numerous settings, customization options, and productivity tools that law firms often overlook after their initial implementation. This session will demonstrate some of Clio Manage’s less obvious capabilities and show attendees how to put them to work. Topics will include creating custom fields and field sets, configuring matter numbering and document organization, customizing matter views, using text snippets to speed up data entry, and adjusting notifications to keep important information from slipping through the cracks. We will also explore selected billing preferences and matter-level financial settings that can help firms manage their work more effectively. The session will emphasize live demonstrations of specific features and settings, with practical explanations of when and why to use them.

BREAK | 3:30pm – 3:40pm

SESSION 2 – Billing Configuration, Automation, and Collections | Jeff Schoenberger | 3:40pm – 4:40pm

Most law firms using Clio know how to enter time, generate invoices, and record payments. But many never explore the settings and features that can make their billing processes more efficient, consistent, and effective. This session goes beyond basic billing to demonstrate how to configure and manage a more sophisticated billing workflow in Clio Manage. Attendees will learn how billing rate hierarchies work, how to customize invoices and payment terms, and how to streamline bill preparation, review, and approval. We will also demonstrate tools for managing outstanding balances, automating payment reminders, and monitoring a firm’s financial performance. Using practical examples and live demonstrations, the session will show attorneys how to take advantage of Clio Manage’s billing capabilities, reduce administrative work, and improve the process of getting paid.