---
title: "The Marlow blog"
description: "How a small firm keeps its matters, docket, documents and books, and what changes when new work arrives already opened."
url: https://marlow.legal/blog
---

# Notes on running a small firm.

How a small firm keeps its matters, docket, documents and books, and what changes when new work arrives already opened.

## [What is legal docketing? Keeping every deadline from lapsing](https://marlow.legal/blog/what-is-legal-docketing)

Docket · October 7, 2026 · 8 min read · [markdown](https://marlow.legal/blog/what-is-legal-docketing.md)

Docketing, calendaring and the tickler, defined; what the ABA’s malpractice data says about missed dates; and how a reminder ladder puts one named lawyer on every deadline.

## [Who owns the client file? What Rule 1.16(d) asks](https://marlow.legal/blog/who-owns-the-client-file)

Client file · October 7, 2026 · 9 min read · [markdown](https://marlow.legal/blog/who-owns-the-client-file.md)

When a representation ends, what leaves with the client? The Model Rule, the entire-file and end-product approaches, Opinions 471 and 520, and what a portable file means for practice software.

## [What is a headless law firm?](https://marlow.legal/blog/what-is-a-headless-law-firm)

Headless · October 7, 2026 · 8 min read · [markdown](https://marlow.legal/blog/what-is-a-headless-law-firm.md)

Where the word headless comes from, what it means when the subject is a law firm, and why the head, a licensed lawyer’s judgment, never moves into the software.

## [Running new practice software beside Clio, without migrating](https://marlow.legal/blog/running-practice-software-beside-clio)

Switching · October 7, 2026 · 8 min read · [markdown](https://marlow.legal/blog/running-practice-software-beside-clio.md)

How a parallel run works, what Clio’s own help center says an export contains, what to check before relying on any export, and what a portable client file should mean.

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