Guide · Client intake
Law firm client intake form, question by question.
What should a law firm intake form ask?
A good intake form asks only what you need to decide whether to take the case: who is involved, so you can run a conflict check, what happened, the key dates and deadlines, and how to reach the person safely. Each practice area then adds its own questions. The full story comes later, from a lawyer.
What questions belong on every intake form?
Whatever you practice, these eight questions come first. Each one is there for a reason.
| Ask | Why it is there |
|---|---|
| Full name, and any other names they have used | This is what your conflict check runs on. Maiden names, nicknames and business names all count. |
| The names of everyone else involved | The other party, their lawyer, any insurance company, any co-defendant. Conflicts hide here more often than in the client's own name. |
| Best phone and email, and whether it is safe to text or leave a message | In family and criminal matters, someone else may read the client's phone. Ask before you leave a voicemail. |
| What happened, in a few sentences | Enough to know if it is a case you take. The full story comes later, with a lawyer. |
| The key dates: when it happened, and any court date or deadline | A court date next week changes who calls them back and how fast. Most matters also have a deadline to file. |
| Have they talked to or hired another lawyer on this? | If they are already represented, you need to know before anything else is said. |
| Who will pay for the representation | If a parent, employer or partner is paying, Model Rule 1.8(f) requires the client's informed consent and no interference with your judgment. |
| How they heard about you | The simplest way to learn which referral sources and ads actually send you cases. |
Why run the conflict check before hearing the whole story?
Because what a prospective client tells you can take your whole firm off the other side of the case. Under ABA Model Rule 1.18, if a lawyer hears information that could be significantly harmful to that person, the lawyer cannot represent someone on the other side of the same or a substantially related matter, and neither can anyone else in the firm unless the rule's exceptions are met.
One condition of the screening exception is that the lawyer took reasonable measures to avoid hearing more than was reasonably necessary to decide whether to take the case. That is the practical rule for intake: names first, conflict check second, the detailed story only after both are clear.
What to add for each practice area
Add these after the eight questions above. Cut anything your firm does not use.
Personal injury intake form
Most of a personal injury case is decided by facts you can only get early: the scene, the photos, the first treatment.
- What kind of incident: car crash, truck, slip and fall, dog bite, work injury, something else
- The date, the city and the exact location
- Every injury, and every doctor, hospital, urgent care or therapist they have seen since
- Whether they are still treating, and any gap in treatment
- Any prior injury to the same part of the body
- Their own insurance, the other side's insurance, and their health insurance, including Medicare or Medicaid
- Whether there is a police or incident report, and the report number
- Photos, video and witness names
- Whether they have given a recorded statement or signed anything for an insurance company
- Time missed from work and their employer
Ask who paid the medical bills. Health insurers, Medicare and Medicaid may have a right to be repaid out of a settlement, and it is far easier to plan for at intake than at closing.
Family law intake form
Family law intake is mostly about safety, children and jurisdiction, in that order.
- Is it safe for us to contact you at this number and email?
- Any safety concerns, protective orders or police involvement
- The other spouse or parent's full name, and whether they have a lawyer
- Children's names and ages, and where they live now
- Date of marriage and date of separation
- How long each of them has lived in the state and county
- Any existing orders or open cases, in any state
- Any upcoming court dates
- A general picture of property and debts: home, retirement accounts, business
- What they want to happen next
Residency matters because each state sets its own rules for how long someone must live there before filing for divorce. Ask it early so you do not take a case that has to wait.
Criminal defense intake form
For criminal defense, the first form should be about logistics. The facts belong in a conversation with the lawyer.
- The charges, as written on the paperwork
- The court, the case or docket number, and the next court date
- Whether the person is in custody, and where, and any bail or release conditions
- The arresting agency
- Any co-defendants, for the conflict check
- Any open cases, probation or parole
- Whether they have talked to police about the case
- Who is calling: the accused, or a family member
- Who will pay, if not the accused
Often the caller is a parent or partner, not the client. That changes what you can discuss with them and who you are representing, so ask it first.
Immigration intake form
Immigration intake turns on status, history and deadlines. One missed detail can change what a person is eligible for.
- Country of birth and citizenship
- Current immigration status, and when it expires
- Date and manner of each entry into the US
- Any past applications, petitions, approvals or denials, and their A-Number if they have one
- Whether they have ever been in immigration court or received a Notice to Appear
- Any upcoming hearing, interview or deadline
- Any arrests or criminal history, in any country
- Family relationships to US citizens or permanent residents
- What they are hoping to apply for
Ask for copies of every notice they have received. Dates on those papers drive the whole case, and people rarely remember them exactly.
What should happen after someone fills it out?
The form is not where firms lose people. The hours after it are. When Clio secret-shopped 500 law firms for its 2024 Legal Trends Report, only 40% answered the phone, and of the firms that missed the call, only about 1 in 5 called back.
- 1
Run the conflict check
On every name in the answers, before anyone calls back for details.
- 2
Get it to an attorney the same day
Written up so they can read it in two minutes, not as a raw form dump.
- 3
Call back fast
Most firms that missed a call in Clio's study did not call back. Be the one that does, the same day.
- 4
Decide, and say so
Accept, decline or refer. A declined person should get a clear answer, in writing.
- 5
Never retype it
Once the case is accepted, the answers should flow into your case management system as they are.
How we build intake for law firms
We build intake around the questions your firm already asks. What is live today:
- Answers from a call or a web form become one written lead packet an attorney can read in two minutes.
- The attorney accepts or declines in one click. Accept opens the matter and sends the fee agreement. Nothing is retyped.
- A new lead gets a real text back within seconds, so your firm is the first one they hear from.
The full path, from the first call to an open matter, is in our intake automation guide.
Common questions
Is what someone writes on an intake form confidential?
Yes. Under ABA Model Rule 1.18, a person who consults you about hiring you is a prospective client, and even if you never take the case you cannot use or reveal what they told you, except as the rules allow for former clients. Check your own state's version of the rule.
Can we just use a free intake form template?
Yes, as a starting point. The template is the easy part. What matters is that someone actually runs the conflict check before the long conversation, that the answers reach an attorney the same day, and that nobody retypes them into your case management system.
Online form or phone call?
Both. Many people call before they will fill anything out, so the same questions need to be asked on the phone, in the same order, and written up the same way as the web form. When Clio secret-shopped 500 law firms for its 2024 Legal Trends Report, only 40% answered the phone.
How long should an intake form be?
As short as you can make it and still decide whether to take the case. Everything else can come after the engagement letter is signed.
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