The most expensive person in your firm should not be the one who picks up a 6:45pm call from a stranger asking about a slip-and-fall. The cheapest version of intake is a human paralegal at $24/hr. The better version is an AI that runs the conflict check, captures the matter facts, and books a 15-minute consultation, and only escalates to the paralegal when there is something a paralegal actually needs to do. Most Greater Houston firms gain back 8 to 14 partner hours per week after this is live.
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
Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct 7.01 prohibits false or misleading communications about a lawyer's services. The AI cannot pretend to be a human. The disclosure script we use:
This satisfies disclosure, 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. The same approach passes review in California, Florida, and New York where we've cross-checked.
Conflict checks before booking (the legal-specific deal-breaker)
Booking a consultation without running a conflict check is malpractice waiting to happen. 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 within an hour."
- 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. Mature API. Prospective client records, calendar, conflicts, intake forms, lead source. 7 to 10 days.
- MyCase. API. Lead capture, intake forms, calendar. 7 to 10 days.
- Filevine. API. Custom intake projects, conflict checks, document automation triggers. 10 to 14 days.
- PracticePanther. API. Contact creation, matter creation, calendar. 7 to 10 days.
- Smokeball. API + custom middleware. 10 to 14 days.
- Rocket Matter, Centerbase. API. 10 to 14 days.
- Manual / spreadsheet intake. AI drops into Google Sheets or Notion. 3 to 5 days. Good for firms not yet on case management software.
After-hours and weekend intake (when most PI calls come)
Plaintiff firms know this already: most personal injury and criminal defense calls come Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. The accident happened on Saturday. The arrest happened Friday night. The other firm's voicemail is competing with your voicemail. The AI is awake at 11pm on a Saturday and the conflict check still runs at 11:03pm. The booking still happens. The follow-up SMS still goes out Monday morning.
For PI firms in particular, this single behavior change is worth 4 to 9 additional signed cases per month based on conversions we've seen across firms in Greater Houston.
Pricing for law firms
| Component | Range |
|---|---|
| Discovery + bar compliance review + script approval | $500 |
| Voice platform setup + knowledge base build | $1,500 to $2,500 |
| Case management integration | $500 to $1,500 |
| Practice-area flow build (per area) | $300 to $500 |
| Conflict-check workflow + escalation | included |
| Typical total setup | $2,500 to $5,000 |
Monthly platform plus tuning: $250 to $600/mo for most firms. Multi-attorney firms with 3+ practice areas land at $700 to $1,200/mo.
The pre-launch compliance review with your managing partner
Before kickoff we run a 60-minute compliance review 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 one-page compliance memo for your file. We do not deploy until the managing partner signs off.
FAQ for attorneys
- Is AI intake bar-compliant?
- Yes with the disclosure script and conflict-check workflow.
- How do conflict checks work?
- AI captures parties, submits to your conflict checker, holds the booking until cleared.
- Different intake by practice area?
- Yes. PI, family, estate, criminal, business, immigration each get their own flow.
- Does it establish attorney-client privilege?
- No. Disclosure language makes that explicit.
- Clio integration?
- Yes. Plus MyCase, Filevine, PracticePanther.
- Cost?
- $2,500 to $5,000 setup, $250 to $600/mo.
- After-hours?
- 24/7. Most PI and criminal calls come after hours and on weekends.
- 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."