Law firm intake automation, from first call to open matter.

Why intake is where firms lose clients

When Clio secret-shopped 500 US law firms for its 2024 Legal Trends Report, only 40% answered the phone when a prospective client called, and only 20% of the firms that missed the call ever called back.

Most of those firms were not careless. The person who answers the phone is also doing five other jobs, and every step after the call is manual: write it up, find an attorney, chase a decision, send an agreement, retype it all into the case system. Each hand-off is a place a new client can quietly fall out.

How intake automation should work, step by step

Whatever software you use, a well-built intake path does these six things in this order.

1. 1

   Every call and form gets answered

   Day, night and weekend. A person who reaches voicemail at 6pm often calls the next firm on the list, so the first job is simply to answer.

2. 2

   The firm's own screening questions get asked

   Your questions, in your order, for each practice area. Existing clients are recognized and routed instead of being screened like strangers.

3. 3

   The answers become a lead packet

   Who called, what happened, the dates, the transcript and the recording, in one place an attorney can read in two minutes. Not a voicemail someone has to decode.

4. 4

   An attorney decides in one click

   Accept, decline, refer or not yet. The decision is the attorney's. Everything after it is paperwork, and paperwork is what should be automated.

5. 5

   Accept sets up the case

   The matter opens in your case management system with the client's details already in it, the client folder is created, and the fee agreement goes out for e-signature. Nobody retypes anything.

6. 6

   Decline and refer are handled too

   A declination or referral letter is drafted for the attorney to approve. A "not yet" gets a follow-up reminder so a maybe does not quietly disappear.

Intake software or a custom build?

If your intake is simple and your case system's own intake tools fit how you work, use them. Clio Grow, Lawmatics and similar products are good at storing leads and sending forms.

A custom build earns its place when the steps between the tools are where the time goes: a phone system that does not talk to the CRM, an attorney who decides by email, an agreement that gets retyped into the case system, or practice areas that each need different questions. That is usually where the leads leak, and it is the part off-the-shelf software leaves to your staff.

How we build it

We build intake systems for law firms inside the software they already use. What is live today:

• A lead comes in by phone or web, and the folder, a written summary and a one-click accept or decline are already waiting for the attorney.
• Accept, and the matter, the client folder and the fee agreement set themselves up. Decline or refer, and the letter is drafted for approval.
• A new lead gets a real text back within seconds, so your firm is the first one they hear from.
• Every inbound intake call is graded from its transcript, and qualified leads that nobody entered into the CRM get flagged.

See how it runs at a real firm in the intake automation case study.

Common questions