Legal Intake Automation
Legal intake automation that answers, screens and books
Every call answered in English or Spanish, screened against your intake rules, booked for a consult and written to your case management system. Fixed fee. You own it.
- System type
- overlay
- Replacement
- not required
- Next step
- scan
Part of my law firm automation work. Intake is where I start with every firm.
Legal intake services take messages. Intake automation finishes the job.
When a firm outgrows its front desk, the usual fix is a legal intake service or an answering service. They answer the phone, which helps. But most of them take a message and pass it along. Someone at the firm still has to call back, ask the screening questions, book the consult and type it all into the case system. By the time that happens, a caller with a real case may have signed with the firm that answered first.
Legal intake automation does the whole intake on the first call and puts the result where your team already works.
What happens on a call
- It answers in the caller's language. English or Spanish, day or night, in the firm's name, and it tells the caller they are speaking with an automated assistant.
- It asks your screening questions. The same questions your intake team asks, in your order, so a case that does not fit is sorted out politely and early.
- It books the consult. A qualified caller gets a time on your calendar before the call ends.
- It writes the intake to your case system. Name, contact details, answers and a short summary land in the file. Lawmatics in the build I am delivering now.
- It hands off when it should. Urgent calls, or callers who ask for a person, transfer live. If nobody picks up, a callback is set so the caller is not dropped.
- Every call is logged for review. Your team sees what came in and why each call was booked, transferred or declined.
Answering service, intake software, or intake automation
| Answering service | Intake software (CRM) | Intake automation you own | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answers the phone | Yes | No, your staff do | Yes, every call |
| Runs your screening questions | Sometimes, from a script | Forms for staff to fill | Yes, your questions in your order |
| Books the consult | Rarely | Staff book it | Yes, on the call |
| Writes to your case system | No, sends a message | It is the case system | Yes, into the file |
| Spanish | Depends on staffing | Not applicable | Yes |
| Who owns the setup | The service | The vendor | You |
The tests it passes before it takes a real call
A law firm's phone line is not the place to find bugs. In the build I am delivering now, the first round was 17 test calls placed through a real phone carrier on a pilot number, covering:
- Live transfer to a person, and what happens when nobody answers
- Callbacks for missed and dropped calls
- After-hours calls
- Urgent calls that must reach a person
- A failed voice provider and a server outage, so the caller is never left in silence
- Spanish names, which came through spelled exactly as spoken
Only after those pass, and after counsel approves the disclosure and consent wording, does it answer a real client.
What you own at the end
The phone number, the voice and AI accounts, the scripts and the intake rules all sit in your accounts. The prompts are documented so your team can change a question without calling me. If we stop working together, the intake line keeps answering.
Want to see where intake leaks in your firm first? Run the free AI Operations X-Ray.
When you should not hire me
If you need a person on your phones by Friday, sign up with an answering service. If you get a handful of calls a week and your staff answer every one, you do not need this yet. It pays off when calls ring out, come in after hours, or come in Spanish, and when intake notes are being typed twice.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
01How is this different from a legal intake service or answering service?
An answering service takes a message and passes it on. Someone at the firm still calls back, asks the screening questions, books the consult and types it into the case system. Legal intake automation does all of those steps on the first call, then writes the result to your case management system so nobody retypes it.
02Is this legal intake software I have to learn?
No. Intake software like a CRM gives your staff forms and follow-up reminders, but your staff still work the phone. This answers the phone and runs the intake, and your team reviews the result in the system they already use.
03Does it replace my intake staff?
It takes the calls they cannot get to: after hours, during lunch, when two lines ring at once, and callers who need Spanish. Your team keeps the judgment calls, reviews what came in, and takes live transfers when a call needs a person.
04Which case management systems does it write to?
The build I am delivering writes to Lawmatics. For Clio, MyCase or another system I check the API first and tell you in writing which fields can be written before any work starts.
05What does a caller hear?
A greeting in the firm's name, a clear statement that they are speaking with an automated assistant, then your screening questions in English or Spanish. If the call is urgent or the caller asks for a person, it transfers.
06What about recording and confidentiality?
Recording stays off until counsel approves the disclosure, consent and retention wording. The AI vendor signs a zero-retention agreement before calls carry personal information. The system never gives legal advice.
07How is it priced?
Fixed fee, scoped after the AI Operations X-Ray, paid in milestones. The phone system and AI usage run on your own accounts, so you see the running cost directly.
08How long until it takes real calls?
Each phase is built and tested before the next one starts, and it goes live only after it passes the test calls and your counsel signs off on the disclosure. Most of the waiting is on those sign-offs, not the build.
Next step
Want this mapped for your business?
Run the 90-second AI Operations X-Ray. Free, no credit card.