The Neuroanalytics Of Using Legal Tech: Clio's Joshua Lenon On A First-of-its-Kind Cognitive Study

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Nov 11, 2025

Joshua Lenon, lawyer in residence at Clio, dives into the groundbreaking 10th Legal Trends Report, highlighting its first neuroanalytics study of legal professionals. He reveals how the study measured brain activity to gauge emotional strain while using technology versus manual methods. They discuss the surprising rise of AI tools among lawyers, clients' mixed feelings about AI use, and the impact of tech adoption on firm growth and billing. Lenon's insights offer a fresh perspective on technology's role in modern legal practice.

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INSIGHT

Billable Time And Revenue Improved Over A Decade

Over ten years average billable time rose from ~1.5 to ~3 hours a day, moving billable percentage from 18% to 30%.
Collected revenue per timekeeper increased about 82% even after adjusting for rate inflation.

ANECDOTE

Lawyers Wore Brain Sensors During Task Tests

Clio partnered with Neuro-Insights to measure brain electromagnetic signals while lawyers did tasks with or without Clio and AI.
Tasks included client intake, matter opening, work-in-progress reports, and extracting answers from a will PDF using AI.

INSIGHT

Tech And AI Preserve Mental Capacity

Lawyers using Clio and AI left tests with greater remaining mental capacity than those using traditional tools.
Higher mental strain from manual methods reduced end-of-day cognitive capacity and may contribute to burnout.

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Legal technology company Clio recently released the 10th edition of its Legal Trends Report, its annual analysis of data and survey responses on legal practice and emerging trends, and this year's report ventured into new territory. For the first time, the report included a neuroanalytics study of legal professionals, analyzing electrical brain activity in legal professionals as they performed various work-related tasks, in order to paint a picture of their emotional strain and mental focus as they worked.

For an in-depth look at this year's Legal Trends Report, its principal author, Joshua Lenon, lawyer in residence at Clio, sits down with LawNext host Bob Ambrogi for a conversation recorded live at the 13th annual ClioCon, Clio's annual conference, which was held this year in Boston. They discuss the results of this first-ever cognitive study, as well as the report's other key findings, including what it shows about:

AI adoption and its relationship to law firm growth.
Clients' expectations around lawyers' use of AI.
How potential clients find lawyers.
The correlation between technology adoption and long-term success.

With Clio since 2012, Lenon is an attorney admitted to practice in New York who has focused much of his career on helping lawyers understand the benefits and risks of technology adoption within their practices. At Clio, he leads the development of the Legal Trends Report and contributes to legal scholarship and advancement, often speaking on law firm modernization, technology adoption, legal ethics and access to justice.

Thank You To Our Sponsors

This episode of LawNext is generously made possible by our sponsors. We appreciate their support and hope you will check them out.

Paradigm, home to the practice management platforms PracticePanther, Bill4Time, MerusCase and LollyLaw; the e-payments platform Headnote; and the legal accounting software TrustBooks.
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