A prospective client writes to a firm at night: their landlord is refusing to return a deposit and they want to know whether they can sue. The firm wants to help and wants the work. It also needs to avoid giving advice before it has checked for conflicts and agreed terms. The first reply needs to be helpful without crossing that line.
Good intake does both. This playbook sets out the steps.
Step 1: define what intake is for
Intake exists to decide three things: whether the firm handles this kind of matter, who should respond, and how urgently. It is not a consultation. Everything in the process should serve those three decisions.
Step 2: publish your practice areas clearly
Many unsuitable enquiries arrive because the website is vague. List the areas you cover, and those you do not. A prospect who can see immediately that you do not handle their type of matter will look elsewhere, saving time on both sides.
Step 3: ask only what you need
A good intake gathers:
- The practice area
- A short summary in the person's own words
- Any deadlines or court dates
- The name of the other party, where relevant
- The person's name and contact details
Asking for the other party's name supports the firm's own conflict checks. The assistant does not run those checks; it simply captures the information for staff.
Step 4: warn against oversharing
Some people share everything at once. It is sensible to say, at the start, that a short summary is enough for now and that detailed discussion will happen with a qualified person. That protects the prospective client and the firm.
Step 5: never give advice
A website assistant must not tell someone whether they have a case, what they should do or what outcome to expect. It can explain the firm's services, fees information and process as published. Everything else goes to a person.
Visitor: Can I sue my landlord for my deposit? Assistant: I'm not able to give legal advice, but housing disputes are one of the areas the firm handles. If you share a short summary, the other party's name and your contact details, a member of the team will be in touch to discuss your situation.
Step 6: flag urgency
Some matters are time-critical, such as court deadlines, injunctions or limitation periods. Intake should ask about deadlines and flag any that are close, so the right person responds quickly.
Step 7: route to the right person
Different practice areas often have different fee earners. SpideyChat for law firms captures the enquiry with the practice area and creates a ticket for the right team, so enquiries do not sit in a general inbox. The capture options are described on the forms page.
The time saved on unsuitable enquiries is covered in chatbots for law firms qualifying clients without billable hours. The cost of slow replies to suitable ones is covered in what a missed legal enquiry costs a small firm.
Step 8: respond promptly
Intake only helps if someone follows up. Set a target response time and make one person responsible. Prospective clients often contact several firms, and the first thoughtful reply usually wins.
Lessons from property
Property businesses handling auction enquiries face similar pressure to respond quickly without giving advice about bidding, as covered in auction property enquiries and the questions they bring. More on firms using an assistant generally is in AI receptionist for law firms.
Setting it up
Train the assistant on your practice area and fees pages, and set it up to capture the intake details. The guides to installing the widget and training your bot explain the steps.