She explains the decision behind Clio rolling out its new intelligent work platform in the country
Earlier this month, global legal AI tech company Clio announced the rollout of its new intelligent work platform Clio Work in New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong – a move that the company said represented a major expansion in the APAC region. NZ Lawyer caught up with Clio APAC GM Denise Farmer to discuss Clio Work; in the first part of this interview, Farmer goes into detail on why the company chose to launch Clio Work in New Zealand and discusses common barriers to adopting AI in the country.
Why was NZ chosen as one of the countries in which Clio rolled out this platform?
New Zealand represents one of the most technologically advanced and forward-thinking legal markets we've encountered worldwide. The conversations we have with New Zealand law firms are oriented around the bleeding edge of what's possible with technology, particularly around how to directly apply AI to achieve as much as possible in law firms today. In some areas of the world, we're still having the conversation about whether the cloud is the right computing model for lawyers, but in New Zealand, that conversation is fully in the rearview mirror.
There's also a real hunger and appetite for new technology and new entrants to the space, and a fairly high level of frustration with some of the legacy vendors in the market. New Zealand practitioners understand the future of legal work isn't about replacing their expertise, it's about amplifying it, and they're actively looking for solutions that bridge the gap between case management and legal research.
What are some common barriers you’ve observed in the NZ legal market when it comes to embracing AI?
The biggest barriers we see are around data control, trust, and workflow disruption. Firms need to be asking critical questions about who owns their data and if they’re able to move if needed, and whether AI is grounded in authoritative legal sources, or is it guessing. There's also the very real concern about implementing yet another tool that creates more fragmentation rather than solving it. Lawyers are time-poor already, and they don't want to learn a completely new system that sits separate from where they already work.
And finally, there's the question of talent retention. Modern legal professionals expect technology that supports flexible, intelligent ways of working, not legacy systems that create unnecessary friction and add more fragmented burden.
How does Clio’s product address these barriers?
Clio Work tackles barriers directly. You own your data and export it in open formats, which is fundamental to our operation. Legal reasoning is grounded in primary case law and matter context, reducing hallucination risk. The platform integrates business applications with documents, time keeping, and financial records. Research flows into documents seamlessly.
Despite its sophistication, lawyers gain value within minutes through intuitive, conversational interfaces, evolving to advanced use cases within hours. Research flows straight into drafted documents and client updates without leaving the system. And finally, this supports the kind of modern, efficient legal work that not only attracts but also retains top talent.
