This is a major deal, and not just for Clio, which will use the funding to extend its product leadership, develop new functions, and support and expand its customer base beyond the United States. This is a powerful vote of confidence for the entire cloud-based legal services area, from law practice management providers like Clio to the growing number of virtual law practices and online legal collaborators. It demonstrates the seriousness with which outside investors view the extraordinary potential of this burgeoning field.

Boris Wertz, Acton Capital’s Vancouver-based Venture Partner, makes a telling point in Clio’s press release announcing the investment. “The legal space is ripe for disruption,” he says, adding that although the legal industry has been more a laggard than a leader when it comes to the adoption of technological innovations, that’s now changing. Clio’s cloud computing success is just one illustration, albeit an important one, of that emerging reality.

If you’re interested in learning more about this announcement, check out Clio’s blog today for the latest news. On behalf of everyone here at Stem, our sincere congratulations to Clio on this breakthrough funding announcement!

A couple of additional notes I’d like to mention:

• First, there’s a nice web-only appendix on the magazine website that includes the comments received from the survey. I’m not sure how long this page will be available, so best to drop by this month.
• Second, a feature only blogging & the social web could provide, Doug has just posted his response to the survey process & the results. He also has a sample social networking/blogging policy for a law firm.  Both these items are worth checking out.
• Third, a big thanks goes out to David Lat and Above the Law for helping us get the word out about the survey.  ATL didn’t get a mention in the article, and that was an oversight. Chalk it up to the rookie column editor (me).
• Fourth, we can’t pin this on Big Law. The numbers were consistent across firms of all sizes. We segmented the results to isolate each of the firm size demographics, and the numbers were almost identical.
• Fifth, 45% of law firms blocking social networks surprises me, and also doesn’t surprise me. The sample size was admittedly pretty small, but the fact the percentages were so consistent across firm size gives me a bit more faith in the results. Even if that number drops to 33%, one-third of an industry blocking is still a big number.

Many thanks to Doug for putting this together. I’d like to encourage everyone to check out Doug’s article and review the materials noted above.

Now, there are plenty of reasons for and against this practice, and that’s what will be addressed in the upcoming article. But before we get that far, we want you to tell us (anonymously, using this survey) if your firm is blocking, which sites are being blocked, and if you are in favour or against the practice.

Any help in spreading the word would be greatly appreciated! Especially if you know someone, say at another firm, is being blocked. They might not ever know about this survey, unless a kind friend discreetly emailed them this link. Would they? :)

The focus of this new column will be on the practical aspects of web innovation within the legal community. My role, or at least as I see it, will be to track down stories (and authors) that highlight the latest methods of web engagement. The read write web is an environment that’s constantly evolving, both on the public-Internet and within law firms. My hope, is that this column will help lawyers decide which tactics & technologies are valuable investments of their time, and which are not.

I’m very excited to be expanding my role with Law Practice in 2009.  I’m also thankful to have the mentoring and guidance of Editor-in-Chief Dan Pinnington, as well as Joan Feldman and Joy White.  All three have been incredibly helpful, and I feel confident going forward knowing that I have their support.

And while I’m on the thank-you circuit… I’d also like to acknowledge former Editor-in-Chief Dave Bilinsky, who both got me involved in LPM and persuaded me to sign up for (yet) another volunteer gig. Thanks Dave! ;) Actually, all sarcasm aside, my time with LPM has been an exceptional experience.  It’s a extremely smart and fun group to be around. And I highly recommend it.