If you use Clio for practice management and clicked the marketing section of your dashboard, you were likely routed to Scorpion. Scorpion is Clio's primary marketing partner — meaning the referral is baked into the Clio product UI. Many attorneys end up with Scorpion not because they shopped and chose it, but because it was the next button they clicked. Your practice management software and your marketing agency are independent decisions. Here's what that distinction means in practice.
How the Clio Marketing Partner Program Works
Clio is a legal practice management platform — case management, billing, client portal, document automation. It's a well-built product used by tens of thousands of law firms. The marketing partner integration is a separate monetization layer: Clio surfaces a marketing recommendation inside the dashboard, and when attorneys follow that path, they land on Scorpion's intake process.
This is a common model in practice management software. EHR platforms in healthcare do the same thing with preferred billing or marketing vendors. The referral benefits the platform financially — and it may be a reasonable option for some attorneys. But it's a referral, not a recommendation based on your specific firm size, practice area, or budget.
The practical result: attorneys who aren't actively evaluating marketing vendors end up in Scorpion's sales process because that's where Clio's UI pointed them. That's worth understanding before you sign a 12-month contract.
What Scorpion Actually Charges — and What You Give Up
Scorpion's marketing packages for attorneys start at approximately $3,500/month and include their Convert AI voice product for intake. The 12-month contract is standard for SEO and their marketing technology platform. At the entry level, that's $42,000 in committed spend before you can evaluate results and exit without penalty.
The asset ownership structure is the more significant issue. Scorpion builds the website — and owns it. They manage the Google Ads account — and it's in their agency account, not yours. In some engagements, they register the domain. If you end the relationship, you restart: new website, no SEO history, no ad account data, no conversion history. Every month of the engagement built equity in Scorpion's infrastructure, not yours.
Website — Built on Scorpion's platform. Stays with Scorpion when you leave.
Google Ads account — Managed under Scorpion's agency account. Conversion history does not transfer.
Domain — Registered by Scorpion in some engagements. Verify ownership before signing.
Contract term — 12 months required for SEO and marketing technology. No month-to-month option.
Convert AI (voice intake) — Included in base packages. Proprietary to Scorpion's platform.
None of this is hidden — it's in Scorpion's standard contract. The attorneys who are surprised by it are the ones who didn't scrutinize the terms because the referral felt like an endorsement from a trusted platform.
Three Marketing Paths for Attorneys on Clio
Attorneys on Clio have three realistic options. Here's how they compare on the factors that matter most for small and mid-size firms:
| Scorpion (via Clio) | Independent agency | Boxi Marketing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $3,500–$5,000/mo | $1,500–$4,000/mo (varies) | $1,997/mo |
| Contract term | 12 months (required) | Varies — often 6–12 months | Month-to-month |
| Website ownership | Scorpion owns it | Usually yours | You own it |
| Google Ads account | Agency-owned | Varies | Client-owned |
| AEO / AI search included | Not standard | Rarely included | Included (Growth+) |
| Bar compliance review | Yes | Inconsistent | Yes — every campaign |
| Legal vertical expertise | Deep (enterprise focus) | Variable | Attorney-specific |
| Best for | Multi-location, $2M+ revenue | Varies by agency | 1–10 attorney firms |
The independent agency row is intentionally broad because quality varies significantly. The key questions to ask any independent agency: Do you own the website? Do you own the Google Ads account? What's the contract term? Do they understand bar advertising rules for your state?
What Marketing Independence Actually Means for Your Firm
Marketing independence isn't about avoiding a specific agency — it's about who owns the assets your marketing builds. A firm with marketing independence has:
A website you own and can take anywhere
The domain is registered in your name. The website is built on a platform you control — not an agency's proprietary CMS. If you change agencies, your website, its SEO history, and its content come with you. You don't restart.
Google Ads history that stays with you
A Google Ads account accumulates Quality Score, conversion data, and audience signals over time. An account managed under an agency's umbrella — rather than your own Google account — means that data belongs to the agency. Independent firms keep their ad accounts in their own Google account with the agency as a manager, not the owner.
An agency relationship you can end without starting over
Month-to-month agreements don't mean the agency performs worse — they mean the agency has to keep earning your business. That's the right incentive structure. A 12-month contract without exit rights is a hedge against the agency's own uncertainty about delivering results.
Content that ranks for your firm, not the agency brand
Some agencies publish content on their own domain or subdomain properties and "loan" the traffic to you. If you leave, the content stays with them. All content Boxi builds is published on your domain, in your CMS, under your brand.
AEO and AI Search: The Layer Most Legal Agencies Miss
When a potential client asks ChatGPT "do I need a lawyer after a car accident in Austin?" or Perplexity "what should I do if I get served divorce papers in Georgia?" — the AI returns an answer that may or may not include a recommended attorney. The firms that appear in those answers have Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) infrastructure: structured content, FAQ schema, high citation authority, and review volume that AI systems can index and surface.
Most legal marketing agencies — including enterprise platforms built for traditional search — don't include AEO as a standard service. It's an add-on, a premium tier, or simply absent from the offering. Attorneys who rank well on traditional search can still be invisible in the AI layer if their content isn't structured for machine consumption.
Boxi includes AEO — FAQ schema, practice-area structured content, citation seeding — in the Growth tier at no additional cost. It's not a future roadmap item; it's in every attorney campaign we run today.
Questions to Ask Before Signing with Any Legal Marketing Agency
Whether you're evaluating Scorpion, Boxi, or any other agency, these questions protect your firm's interests before you commit:
Who owns the website when the engagement ends?
Is the Google Ads account in my Google account, or yours?
Who registers and holds the domain?
What is the minimum contract term, and what are the early termination terms?
Do you review copy against my state's bar advertising rules before publishing?
If I leave, what do I take with me and what stays with you?
Can you show me examples of AEO or AI search work you've done for legal clients?
Any agency that won't give direct answers to these questions before you sign is answering the most important question already.
What Boxi Offers Attorneys on Clio
Boxi works with law firms on Clio, Clio Grow, MyCase, PracticePanther, and every other practice management stack. Your practice management software and your marketing agency are separate systems — Clio's marketing partner program is a referral, not a requirement.
The Growth plan for attorneys starts at $1,997/month, month-to-month. You own the website, the domain, the Google Ads account, and every piece of content we produce. Bar advertising compliance review is included on every campaign — it's not a premium service tier, it's a baseline requirement for legal marketing.
Most attorneys who come to us from agency referrals are surprised by one thing: the contract length. Month-to-month means we have to earn your business every month. That's the right structure for both sides.
Read more about our approach on the attorney marketing agency page. If you're specifically comparing agency options after a Scorpion engagement, see why law firms are leaving Scorpion and Scorpion alternatives for law firms for a deeper breakdown.