Collect

Use firm-approved intake questions

Confirm

Read back contact details and dates

Flag

Identify matters for human review

Follow up

Assign a person and next action

Start With Your Firm's Intake Gaps

Review your call records before choosing an intake workflow. Separate new inquiries from existing-client calls, identify unanswered calls during and outside office hours, and measure how long it takes your team to follow up. Then check how many inquiries become consultations and retained matters.

These figures establish your own baseline. An answered call is not a signed client, and a completed intake is not a legal assessment. Judge an intake change by complete records, successful follow-up, and measured outcomes.

For the service overview, see Topher AI for law firm intake. This guide focuses on the questions and review steps to work through with your team.

A Practical Legal Intake Checklist

Use this as a starting checklist for your firm's approval. Collect only the information appropriate for the initial call; the firm should decide the order of questions and when to stop for review.

  • Practice area — personal injury, family law, criminal defense, immigration, employment, estate planning, etc.
  • Case description — what happened, brief narrative in the caller's own words
  • Dates mentioned by the caller — record incident dates and stated court or filing dates exactly; leave legal deadline assessment to the firm
  • Current representation — is the caller already working with another attorney?
  • Opposing parties — individual, employer, insurance company, government entity
  • Contact information — full name, phone, email, safe callback time, and approved contact method; read details back to check accuracy
  • Preferred consultation format — phone, video, or in-person

Mark unanswered questions as unknown. Add the assigned reviewer, reason for any handoff, and next action. Confirm the destination and access permissions for this record in your demo.

How the AI Intake Workflow Runs

Use these steps to plan and test the workflow with your firm.

1

Call Received

Use the firm's approved greeting, assistant disclosure, and any required recording notice. Test business-hours and after-hours routing.

2

Reason for Calling Captured

Ask for a brief description in the caller's words. Treat a suggested practice area as provisional until reviewed.

3

Intake Questions Asked

AI collects case details, incident date, existing representation, and contact information.

4

Review or Scheduling

Route flagged matters to the assigned person. Offer booking only when the firm's rules and a tested calendar connection permit it; otherwise record a callback request.

5

Summary and Next Action

Send the approved record through the configured channel. Test receipt, ownership, and what happens if delivery or a transfer fails.

Illustrative Call and Intake Record

Illustrative example — fictional caller. Adapt the wording with your firm.

Assistant: I'm the firm's automated intake assistant. I can collect initial details for the team, but I can't provide legal advice. What would you like help with?

Caller: I have a question about a custody matter. I received a notice with a hearing date next week.

Assistant: I'll note that for review. What date is written on the notice, and what name and callback number should the team use?

Caller: It says September 14, 2026. My name is Alex Example. Please call after 4 p.m.

Assistant: Thank you. Please provide your callback number so I can read it back. Your request still needs review by the firm; I can't confirm representation or give guidance about the hearing.

  • Name: Alex Example — fictional caller.
  • Inquiry: Custody question; practice area subject to review.
  • Caller-stated date: September 14, 2026; not independently verified or calculated.
  • Callback details: After 4 p.m.; number still to be collected and confirmed.
  • Unknown: Jurisdiction, opposing party names, and existing representation.
  • Proposed handoff reason: Upcoming hearing mentioned; apply the firm's approved urgency rule.
  • Next action: Assigned team member reviews the inquiry; no consultation or representation confirmed.

When a Person Should Take Over

Choose the triggers with your firm and verify each one in a demo. Useful test cases include a request for legal advice, a possible conflict, a court date mentioned by the caller, a safety concern, a caller asking for a person, and details the assistant cannot reliably understand.

For each trigger, specify who receives the request, whether a transfer or callback is appropriate, and the fallback if nobody answers. Test failed transfers and unavailable calendars as well as successful calls. The assistant should not promise that an attorney has accepted the matter or will respond within an unapproved timeframe.

Practice-Area Questions to Approve

Personal injury

Decide which initial facts to request, such as the caller's description, incident date, location, and existing representation. Ask an attorney to define which answers require immediate review; the assistant should not calculate a filing deadline or assess case value.

Family law

Approve brief questions about the type of inquiry, location, and any dates the caller mentions. Include safe callback preferences and a clear handoff path for sensitive or urgent conversations.

Criminal defense

Agree on how to record caller-stated custody status, jurisdiction, and court dates, and who should receive urgent requests outside office hours. Test that route before accepting live calls.

Immigration

Define the initial questions and human review criteria for the matters your firm accepts. If another language is required, verify the greeting, field accuracy, and handoff behavior in that language during the demo.

Compliance Considerations

The ABA's guidance on generative AI addresses competence, confidentiality, and communication; your firm's applicable rules and circumstances still need review. See the ABA announcement of Formal Opinion 512 (July 29, 2024; accessed September 6, 2026).

  • Have the firm approve disclosure, consent, and recording language for its use case.
  • Test boundaries around legal advice, conflict decisions, deadline assessment, and representation.
  • Review provider terms, storage, retention, access, and model-training use before collecting sensitive information.
  • Approve any confirmation messages and the information included in them.

Have the firm review the complete workflow before launch.

Return on Investment

Use your own call volume, inquiry-to-client conversion rate, and value per retained matter in the missed-call cost calculator. Its output is an estimate based on your assumptions, not promised revenue.

Compare the total cost of a proposed setup with measured changes in retained matters and staff time. Keep estimated lifetime value separate from cash collected in a particular month, and account for the work and costs needed to serve any additional clients.