The most expensive person in your firm should not be the one who picks up an evening call from a stranger asking about a slip-and-fall. The usual version of intake is a paralegal on the phones. The better version is an AI that runs the conflict check, captures the matter facts, and books a consultation, and only escalates to the paralegal when there is something a paralegal actually needs to do.
The intake problem partners ignore until it costs them
Plaintiff and small-firm intake is broken in two specific ways. First, the people most likely to convert (someone who just got in an accident, just learned their spouse filed, just got served) call outside business hours. They don't leave a voicemail. They call the next firm in the search result. Second, when they do call during business hours, your front desk is gathering data the case management system already has fields for, manually, on a paper form, while the caller is deciding whether to keep talking. Modern intake is 1995 with a CRM.
Bar-compliant disclosure: how AI introduces itself
The AI cannot pretend to be a human, so the script opens with disclosure. The disclosure script we use:
This discloses the AI, sets the conflict-check expectation, and offers human takeover at any point. We document the script in your firm's compliance file and the managing partner signs off before kickoff.
Conflict checks before booking (the legal-specific deal-breaker)
Booking a consultation without running a conflict check puts the firm at risk. The AI handles this in the intake flow:
- Identifies parties and entities. Caller name, opposing party name, related companies, family members involved in the matter.
- Submits to case management conflict checker. Clio Conflicts, MyCase Conflicts, Filevine Conflict Checks, PracticePanther's tool, or your existing manual list.
- Holds the booking. AI tells caller "I am running a quick check on my end and will text you a confirmed time as soon as it clears."
- Routes flagged matches. Any potential conflict goes to your designated partner email or Slack channel. No consultation gets booked into the calendar until cleared.
- Confirms or politely declines. If cleared, SMS confirmation with consultation details. If flagged, the AI sends a polite decline with a referral message your managing partner approved.
Practice-area-specific intake flows
One generic intake form is the wrong tool. The questions a PI firm needs are not the questions an estate planner needs. We build separate flows per practice area you offer:
| Practice area | Key intake fields |
|---|---|
| Personal injury | Accident date, location, type, injuries, ER visit, photos, police report, insurance, prior counsel, statute clock |
| Family law | Marriage date, children's ages, jurisdiction, served or filing, financials estimate, urgency |
| Estate planning | Asset estimate, family structure, existing documents, business interests, urgency, beneficiary complications |
| Criminal defense | Charge, jurisdiction, arrest date, bond status, prior counsel, retainer capacity |
| Business / corporate | Entity type, jurisdiction, scope of matter, opposing party, deadline, prior counsel |
| Immigration | Visa type, country of origin, current status, urgency, family unity issues, language preference |
Each flow has its own qualifying questions, routing rules, and follow-up scripts. A PI call that scores high on "ER visit + photos + recent" routes to the senior PI partner. A "fender bender no injuries no medical" routes to a polite decline with a referral.
Confidentiality, privilege, and the "is this attorney-client" question
The AI explicitly does not establish attorney-client relationship. Two things make this clean:
- Disclosure language. "This intake conversation is not a legal consultation and does not create an attorney-client relationship." Stated up front in the AI's opening.
- Limited information capture. The AI gathers enough to qualify, run conflicts, and book. It does not solicit privileged information ("Tell me everything that happened"). When callers volunteer privileged content, the AI gently redirects: "That sounds important and is exactly what the attorney will want to hear. Let's get you scheduled."
We document this position in your compliance file. If your jurisdiction has specific intake disclaimer requirements (some bars do), we add them to the script before launch.
Case management integrations we ship
- Clio. Prospective client records, calendar, conflicts, intake forms, lead source.
- MyCase. Lead capture, intake forms, calendar.
- Filevine. Custom intake projects, conflict checks, document automation triggers.
- PracticePanther. Contact creation, matter creation, calendar.
- Smokeball. API + custom middleware.
- Rocket Matter, Centerbase. API.
- Manual / spreadsheet intake. AI drops into Google Sheets or Notion. Good for firms not yet on case management software.
After-hours and weekend intake
Plaintiff firms know this already: many personal injury and criminal defense calls come outside office hours. The accident happened on Saturday. The arrest happened Friday night. The other firm's voicemail is competing with your voicemail. The AI is awake late on a Saturday night and the conflict check still runs. The booking still happens. The follow-up SMS still goes out Monday morning.
What it costs for law firms
AI implementation is quoted per business after a short call. The quote is built from scope, integrations and call or message volume, so there is no price list for it.
The build covers discovery, compliance review and script approval, voice platform setup and knowledge base build, case management integration, practice-area flows scoped per area, and the conflict-check workflow and escalation. Where you land depends on practice areas and case management integration.
- AI implementation: custom pricing. Request a quote.
- Starter plan, $397 a month: a website, light SEO and AI-SEO, Google Business Profile optimization and LeadExploder access (our lead-capture and follow-up platform). Month to month.
- Ad management add-on: from $500 a month per channel (Google Ads and Meta) plus ad spend. The fee increases with spend and is quoted on the call.
The pre-launch compliance review with your managing partner
Before kickoff we run a compliance review with your managing partner covering:
- Disclosure script approval (verbatim)
- Conflict-check escalation path and partner sign-off
- Practice-area-specific intake question approval
- Decline-and-refer language for unsuitable matters
- Trust account / retainer language (what the AI can and cannot quote)
- Privileged-information redirect script
- Record retention policy (transcript storage, retention period, deletion triggers)
- State-bar-specific addendums (if you practice across state lines)
Output is a short compliance memo for your file. We do not deploy until the managing partner signs off.
FAQ for attorneys
- Is AI intake bar-compliant?
- It is built around your firm's disclosure rules, and your managing partner makes the compliance call. Our AI introduces itself as 'an automated assistant for [Firm Name]' on first contact and offers to transfer to staff at any point. We provide a pre-launch script for your managing partner's review and document the disclosure language in your file.
- How do conflict checks work?
- The AI captures opposing party name, related party names, and case-relevant entities before booking the consultation. That data hits your case management system's conflict checker (Clio, MyCase, Filevine). If a conflict appears, the consultation is flagged for partner review before confirmation. Nothing is booked into the calendar until the conflict check clears.
- Does the AI know the difference between a PI intake and an estate planning intake?
- Yes. We build practice-area-specific intake flows. PI gets accident date, location, injuries, ER visit, photos, insurance, prior counsel. Estate planning gets asset estimate, family structure, current documents, urgency. Each practice area has its own qualifying questions and routing rules.
- What about privileged communication?
- The AI explicitly does not establish an attorney-client relationship. It captures intake information for a future consultation only, and the disclosure script states this. We document this position in your compliance file.
- Does it integrate with Clio?
- Yes. We push prospective client records, schedule consultations, run conflict checks, and tag by lead source. MyCase, Filevine, and PracticePanther also integrate. Integration effort is scoped during discovery.
- How much does it cost?
- AI implementation is quoted per business after a short call. The quote depends on call volume, integrations and practice areas. The Starter plan is $397 a month. Ad management is from $500 a month per channel plus ad spend.
- Does it work after hours?
- Yes, 24/7. Many personal injury and criminal defense calls come outside office hours.
- What if a caller volunteers privileged information?
- The AI redirects: "That is exactly what the attorney will want to hear. Let's get you scheduled."