Clio Team Day 2025: Why These Rooms Matter for the Future of Legal Practice
Toronto, Canada | Clio Team Day
Kicking off 2026 at Clio Team Day offered something increasingly rare in the legal industry: clarity without hype, innovation without shortcuts, and honest conversations about what modern legal practice requires.
Clio Team Day is not a typical conference. It is an invitation-only forum where legal technology leaders, firm owners, and executives from across North America gather to engage in candid, off-stage conversations about the future of the profession. These discussions go beyond tools and trends. They focus on structure, accountability, ethics, and how law firms can evolve without losing trust.
This year, Alex Almazan, Managing Partner of Almazan Law, was one of only eight international law firm owners invited to speak and participate at this level, representing Florida and the U.S. legal market among a global cohort of firm leaders.
Why Proximity to Leadership Matters in Legal Innovation
As part of Clio Team Day, Alex attended an exclusive VIP breakfast with Clio’s executive leadership and CEO, Jack Newton, alongside other invited firm owners.
These closed-door conversations centered on:
- The future of legal service delivery
- Responsible and ethical AI adoption
- Client experience and transparency
- Scaling law firms without sacrificing judgment, accountability, or trust
This proximity matters.
Being present in these rooms allows Almazan Law to engage directly with the people shaping the platforms and systems lawyers rely on every day. It creates the opportunity to advocate for real-world workflows grounded in insurance defense, civil litigation, and real estate practice, rather than theoretical use cases disconnected from how law is actually practiced.
These conversations are not about chasing trends. They are about ensuring that innovation aligns with client needs, ethical obligations, and the realities of modern legal work.
The Long View: Innovation Requires Patience, Not Hype
One of the most meaningful moments during the event came through time spent with Ed Walters, former CEO of Fastcase and a foundational voice in legal technology who now plays a key role in the broader Clio ecosystem.
The takeaway was simple—and powerful: real transformation in the legal industry is rarely sudden, and never accidental. The trajectories of platforms like Fastcase, vLex, and Clio were built over years of conviction, resilience, and disciplined execution. They succeeded not because of shortcuts, but because their leaders stayed the course when it would have been easier to retreat.
That lesson resonates deeply with our firm.
Where Traditional Legal Models Begin to Strain
After more than two decades practicing across civil defense, insurance defense, real estate, and commercial litigation, we’ve seen firsthand where traditional legal models begin to break down, particularly in insurance and civil defense.
These systems are not failing because of bad actors or lack of effort. They struggle because the underlying structures resist meaningful change:
- Misaligned incentives between clients and counsel
- Push-pull dynamics instead of shared outcomes
- Outdated billing models that reward inefficiency
No amount of individual effort can fix a structure that no longer serves its stakeholders.
Why Almazan Law Is Leaning Into AI—Intentionally
At Almazan Law, we approach artificial intelligence as an accelerant, not a gimmick.
When deployed responsibly, AI allows firms to rethink outdated workflows, reduce friction, and realign incentives—without compromising ethics or professional judgment.
Used correctly, AI enables law firms to:
- Improve efficiency without sacrificing quality
- Reduce friction in document-heavy litigation and claims handling
- Reallocate attorney time toward strategy, advocacy, and judgment
- Build systems that scale while preserving accountability
Innovation, however, is uncomfortable. And that discomfort is necessary.
Leading Through Change, Not Around It
Our time at Clio Team Day reinforced the importance of showing up in rooms where the conversations are honest—and sometimes uncomfortable. Progress in this profession requires proximity: to decision-makers, to innovators, and to clients ready to evolve.
Our challenge to ourselves as a firm remains clear:
- Buck systems that no longer serve clients effectively
- Engage in conversations others avoid
- Be willing to step away from work that resists progress—and confident enough to welcome it back when the limits of the old model become undeniable
This mindset informs how we approach client service, legal operations, training, and technology adoption across our Miami, Tampa, and Palm Beach offices.
Listening First, Building Forward
We are grateful to Clio and the broader legal technology community for creating spaces like Clio Team Day—spaces where long-term thinking is valued and real dialogue takes place.
Moving forward, our priority is simple: listen more than we speak, learn from those pushing boundaries, and continue building a Florida-based law firm grounded in innovation, integrity, and sustainable impact.
From Toronto in January to our offices across South Florida, the work continues—one deliberate step at a time.
What This Means for Clients and Legal Professionals
If you are a business owner, insurer, developer, association, or high-net-worth individual in Florida, the future of legal practice is not theoretical—it is already unfolding.
The firms that succeed will be those that combine experienced legal judgment with modern systems built for transparency, efficiency, and trust.
At Almazan Law, that future is not something we are waiting for. It is something we are building—intentionally.