Look
We trace how an enquiry actually arrives and where it stalls. We pick the missing step and one agreed number.
For law firms
Law firm client intake: the process, and the system behind it
Client intake at a law firm is the path from first enquiry to a file that someone owns. A process that works gives every enquiry an owner, a conflict check step and a next action, instead of leaving it in an inbox. We build that system around the tools you already use, and we track one agreed number such as time to first response.
PredictaOps is not a law firm. We do not give legal advice, file in court or replace counsel.
The process
Client intake steps for a law firm
These are the steps a working law firm client intake process needs. The software you keep is secondary. The steps are not.
01
Capture the enquiry in one place
Website form, email, phone or referral all land in the same list, with a timestamp.
02
Name an owner
A person is responsible for the enquiry. It does not sit in a shared inbox waiting for whoever notices.
03
Run a conflict check step
The file does not move forward until the conflict check is done, recorded and owned.
04
Decide: take, refer or decline
A named next action follows the decision, including a reply to the person who enquired.
05
Open the file
Matter details, source and owner sit together, instead of being reconstructed from chat later.
06
Set the next contact
The client knows what happens next. The firm can see whether it happened.
Where enquiries get lost today
Enquiries arrive by form, email, phone and referral. They live in inboxes, chat threads and voicemail. Nobody can say who owns a new matter, whether a conflict check ran, or what the person who wrote in should expect next. The leak is the missing process, not a missing product. If that path from enquiry to instructed matter is the leak, the Practice Bottleneck Check is a two-week review of that one workflow.
Intake specialist, answering service or system?
A search for law firm intake often turns up outsourced answering teams and intake specialists. That is a staffing model. We do not staff the phones and we do not replace the person who speaks to clients. We build the system: one list of enquiries, an owner, a conflict check step and a next action, so the work still moves when nobody is on the line.
What we build: owner, conflict check step, next action
Every enquiry has a named owner. The conflict check is a required step, with a record of who ran it. After the decision, the file has a next action and a time for it. That is the intake system. AI can draft an acknowledgement or summarise the enquiry. A person reviews every output before it leaves the firm.
What we build vs the intake software or CRM you keep
Keep the practice software or CRM that already holds your contacts, including tools such as Clio or MyCase if you already use them. We do not sell those products and we are not a partner of theirs. If the tool already stores the person, we connect to it. If owner, conflict check or next action is missing, we build those steps around it.
Measuring response time each week
We track one number, for example time to first response, agreed with you. We look at it every week. We do not invent a result in advance. The number tells us whether the process is holding, and whether Stay is still useful.
How AI helps, and where a person reviews
AI is useful where it saves time: drafting a first reply, grouping papers, or suggesting a matter type from the enquiry. It is not useful where a person has to decide. A person reviews every output before it is sent or filed. The conflict check stays a human step.
How a project runs: Look, Build, Stay
Build
We ship a thin working slice around owner, conflict check and next action, in about 6 to 10 weeks, using the tools you keep.
Stay
We keep it useful as the practice changes, and we look at the agreed number every week.
PropFiled is ready to use, now enrolling advocates for its pilot. It produces document reconciliation reports for property files: it organises and cross-checks the documents so an advocate can work from them, and every point in the report is checked against its source page. PropFiled does the document grunt work. The advocate keeps the judgment. It reads documents in English and Tamil. Its privacy controls include personal data masking, separate data for each firm, and an audit log. PropFiled is ready to use, now enrolling advocates for its pilot. We don't quote results yet. propfiled.com
Further reading: AI for lawyers: what is safe to use and how to choose legal AI tools.
FAQ
FAQ
Is this legal advice?
No. PredictaOps is not a law firm. We do not give legal advice, file in court or replace counsel. We build the intake system: an owner for every enquiry, a conflict check step and a next action.
Which tools do you work with?
We work with the practice software or CRM you already use. Firms often already run tools such as Clio or MyCase. We are not a partner of those products and we do not sell them. If a tool already holds contacts, we connect to it. If a step is missing, we build around it.
Do you staff the phones or replace an intake specialist?
No. We do not answer the phones and we do not supply an intake team. Search for an intake service often means outsourced answering staff. We build the system those people run, so an enquiry still has an owner when nobody is on the line.
Do we have to replace our CRM?
No. Keep the CRM or practice software that already holds your contacts. We add the missing steps: capture, owner, conflict check and next action, then we track one agreed number such as time to first response.
How do you measure whether intake is working?
We track one number, agreed with you. Time to first response is a common choice. We look at it every week. We do not promise a result in advance.
What is law firm intake?
Law firm intake is how a new enquiry becomes a file someone owns. In a working process, every enquiry has an owner, a conflict check step and a next action. PredictaOps is not a law firm. We do not give legal advice, file in court or replace counsel.
What is the law firm client intake process?
The client intake process is the sequence from first contact to an open file: capture the enquiry, name an owner, run a conflict check, decide take, refer or decline, open the file and set the next contact. The software you keep is secondary. The steps are not.
What should a client intake form include?
Enough to start the process: who the person is, how to reach them, what they are asking, and anything the firm needs before a conflict check. We do not publish a standard form. The form should feed one list, with an owner and a next action, not sit in an inbox.
What does a law firm intake specialist do?
An intake specialist is usually a person who takes the first call, collects facts and passes the enquiry on. That is a staffing model. We do not staff the phones. We build the system those people run, so an enquiry still has an owner when nobody is on the line.
How do law firms do conflict checks?
A conflict check is a required step before the file moves. Someone in the firm runs it, records that it ran, and owns the result. We do not run conflict checks for you and we do not give legal advice on conflicts. We make the step visible in the process.
Who you work with
You talk to Guhan. He plans it, builds it and runs it with you.
Led by Guhan MS, Founder & Legal Engineer, PredictaOps, LLB (Hons) from Sheffield Hallam University, trained in English law. How we work: a free call, we set it up, we run it with you.