Guides · · by the BittaFlow team
The short answer
Law firm client intake is the process that turns a new inquiry into a booked consultation: answering the call or message, collecting the matter type and contact details, screening for fit and conflicts, booking the right attorney and following up until the prospect becomes a client or a clear no. Done well, no inquiry waits for a callback.
What does good client intake look like?
A prospective client calls or writes because something has gone wrong, often outside office hours. Good intake answers them quickly, takes the facts once, tells them plainly what happens next and books them in — without anyone giving legal advice before the firm has agreed to act.
Behind the scenes, the inquiry becomes a record that the firm can screen, assign and follow up. Every message, form and note sits in one place, so the attorney walks into the consultation knowing what the prospect has already said.
Where do law firms lose new clients?
Rarely at the consultation. Usually before it.
- Calls outside business hours go to voicemail, and the prospect calls the next firm
- Intake forms are emailed as PDFs and come back incomplete, or not at all
- Nobody owns a new inquiry, so the callback depends on whoever noticed it
- Consultations are booked but not confirmed, and the prospect forgets
- Retainers and invoices are chased by hand, if at all
How do you build an intake process that answers every inquiry?
Build it in this order, and test it by calling your own number after hours.
- 1Put every channel — calls, texts, web forms and email — into one inbox, so new inquiries are seen in one place.
- 2Make sure a missed or after-hours call gets an immediate text with a link to your intake form.
- 3Write intake forms by matter type, so a family inquiry and a commercial inquiry ask different questions.
- 4Screen the answers: is this a matter you take, in a jurisdiction you cover? Run your conflict check in the system you use for it before booking.
- 5Offer an online booking link for initial consultations, tied to the right attorney’s calendar.
- 6Confirm the booking and send a reminder before it, with any documents you want them to bring.
- 7Follow up after the consultation with the engagement terms and retainer request, and move the record to your pipeline as a new matter.
What should a law firm intake form ask?
Ask for what you need to screen and book, and nothing that belongs in the consultation itself.
| Field | Why you need it |
|---|---|
| Name and contact details, with preferred channel | So you can reply the way they will actually see |
| Matter type | Routes the inquiry to the right attorney and form |
| Other parties involved | Needed for your conflict check |
| Key dates and deadlines | Flags urgent matters, such as a hearing or limitation date |
| Location or jurisdiction | Confirms the firm can act |
| A short description in their words | Gives the attorney context before the call |
| How they heard about you | Tells you which marketing brings real matters |
Can an AI receptionist handle legal intake?
It can handle the first step well: answering out of hours, taking contact details and the matter type, sending the intake link and booking a consultation. It should not give legal advice, assess a case or promise an outcome, and you should configure it so it never does.
Set the topics that always go to a person — an arrest, a hearing tomorrow, a client of the firm — and make sure those messages reach someone who will act on them. Check your jurisdiction’s professional conduct rules on non-lawyer assistance and advertising, and keep the greeting clear about who and what the caller is talking to.
How does BittaFlow handle intake for law firms?
In BittaFlow, inbound calls, SMS and web forms all land in one inbox. A missed call gets an auto-reply with the intake form link, so inquiries captured outside business hours go straight into the pipeline. Intake forms are specific to matter type and sent by link the moment an inquiry comes in; matter type, urgency and contact details are captured digitally, with no PDFs and no re-keying.
The prospect books an initial consultation online, synced to the right attorney’s calendar, and a confirmation and reminder go out automatically. Follow-up sequences cover intake completion, consultation reminders and document requests. A Stripe retainer or invoice goes out by SMS or email, and outstanding balances are tracked in the CRM.
- A full audit trail of every message and action
- Role-based access, so staff see only their clients
- The AI receptionist answers calls in your firm’s voice, escalates on the words you choose and never says what is on your "never say this" list
- Response-time rules flag an inquiry nobody has answered and escalate it
What should you ask an intake software vendor?
Ask to see each of these on screen, with a test inquiry.
- What happens to a call at 9pm on a Saturday?
- Can intake forms differ by matter type?
- Does a completed form attach to the prospect’s record automatically?
- Can staff access be limited to their own clients?
- Is there an audit trail of who saw and changed what?
- Can retainers and invoices be sent and tracked from the same record?