Clio Software Engineer
Interview Questions & Guide 2026

import re
WORD = re.compile(r"[A-Za-z]+")

def mask_word(text, target):
    if not isinstance(text, str) or not isinstance(target, str):
        raise ValueError("text and target must be strings")
    if re.fullmatch(r"[A-Za-z]+", target) is None:
        raise ValueError("target must be one ASCII word")
    wanted = target.lower()
    return WORD.sub(lambda m: "*" * len(m[0])
                    if m[0].lower() == wanted else m[0], text)

assert mask_word("Ada,  ADA!\nAdams", "ada") == "***,  ***!\nAdams"
assert mask_word("A\tB", "a") == "*\tB"

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CREATE TABLE matters (firm TEXT, id TEXT, PRIMARY KEY(firm,id));
CREATE TABLE entries (firm TEXT, matter_id TEXT, minutes INTEGER, approved INTEGER, billed INTEGER);
INSERT INTO matters VALUES ('a','m1'),('a','m2'),('b','m1');
INSERT INTO entries VALUES
 ('a','m1',30,1,0),('a','m1',15,1,0),
 ('a','m1',90,1,1),('a','m1',70,0,0),('b','m1',600,1,0);
WITH totals AS (
 SELECT firm,matter_id,SUM(minutes) AS minutes
 FROM entries WHERE approved=1 AND billed=0
 GROUP BY firm,matter_id
)
SELECT m.id,COALESCE(t.minutes,0)
FROM matters m LEFT JOIN totals t
 ON t.firm=m.firm AND t.matter_id=m.id
WHERE m.firm='a' ORDER BY m.id;

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CREATE TABLE matters (firm TEXT, id TEXT, PRIMARY KEY(firm,id));
CREATE TABLE entries (firm TEXT, matter_id TEXT, minutes INTEGER);
INSERT INTO matters VALUES ('a','m1'),('b','m1');
INSERT INTO entries VALUES ('a','m1',30),('b','m1',600);
-- Unsafe: do not use in an application.
SELECT SUM(e.minutes) FROM matters m JOIN entries e ON e.matter_id=m.id
WHERE m.firm='a';
-- Scoped join; authorization must establish the requested firm.
SELECT SUM(e.minutes) FROM matters m JOIN entries e
 ON e.matter_id=m.id AND e.firm=m.firm
WHERE m.firm='a';

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