Call protocol
Legal intake script: a prospective client’s first call
Short answer
On a prospective client’s first call, a 100% AI receptionist answers for your firm, says it’s an AI and follows a short legal intake script: what kind of matter it is, the name of the other party so your firm can check for conflicts, whether there’s a court date or deadline coming up, and how to reach the caller. Calls with an urgent deadline go to an attorney right away; the rest end in a consultation request or a message, and you get a summary of each.
It never gives legal advice, never tells anyone whether they have a case and never says the firm has taken the matter. This is the intake protocol we start from; your firm sets the words, the practice areas and the rules, and approves it before it goes live.
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Example call: a family law caller with a hearing coming up
Carter and Webb Law · A family law caller with a hearing coming up
- AI
- Carter and Webb Law, I’m the firm’s AI assistant. I can’t give legal advice, but I can take your details.
- Caller
- My ex filed for custody changes.
- AI
- What’s the other party’s name?
- Caller
- Laura Reyes.
- AI
- Do you have a court date?
- Caller
- November 4th.
- AI
- Your name and best number?
- Caller
- Daniel Reyes, 555-0110.
- AI
- Thank you, Daniel. There’s a date coming up, so I’m alerting an attorney now. That doesn’t mean the firm has taken your case yet.
Summary sent to you
- New matter, urgent
- custody modification, hearing November 4.
- Caller
- Daniel Reyes, 555-0110. Other party: Laura Reyes (for conflict check).
- Done
- attorney on duty alerted by email. No advice given; caller told the firm hasn’t taken the case.
The script, step by step
-
Greet, and say what it can’t do
Your firm’s name, that the caller is speaking with an AI assistant, and early on, your line about legal advice. If the caller says they or their children are in danger right now, everything else waits: they’re told to hang up and call 911.
The AI says: “Carter and Webb Law, this is AI Receptionist, the firm’s AI assistant. I can’t give legal advice, but I can take your details for an attorney.”
-
Client or first call?
Existing clients are put through to their attorney, or a message is taken for them. First-time callers continue with intake.
The AI says: “Are you already a client of the firm, or is this your first time calling us?”
-
What kind of matter?
A short description in the caller’s words, matched to your practice areas. If it’s an area you don’t handle, it says so politely and, if you’ve approved it, gives the referral line you chose.
The AI says: “In a sentence or two, what is this about?”
-
The other party’s name
Only the name, so your firm can run a conflict check before anyone discusses the case. It doesn’t comment on what it hears.
The AI says: “Is there another person or company involved? What’s their name?”
-
Any court date or deadline?
A hearing next week or a deadline to respond changes the urgency. It asks and records the date, without saying what the date means.
The AI says: “Do you have a court date or any deadline coming up?”
-
Contact details, your line, and the next step
Name, the best number, a good time to call, and whether it’s safe to leave a message there. A “no” goes in the summary, and no message is left on that number. Before it routes the call, it reads your line that the firm hasn’t taken the matter yet.
The AI says: “Is it okay for us to leave a message at this number?”
When it transfers the call
For a small law firm, these are the rules we start from. Your firm’s rules replace them.
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| A caller who says they or their children are in danger right now | Told to hang up and call 911 first; then the attorney you’ve named for urgent calls is alerted |
| Court date or deadline within your urgent window | Put through to the attorney on duty, or emailed at once |
| A caller whose family member has just been arrested | Put through to the attorney on duty if you take criminal matters; otherwise your referral line, right away |
| New matter in your practice areas | Consultation request booked or taken, by your rules |
| Matter outside your practice areas | Your referral line, if you’ve approved one |
| A caller who says they’re the other party, or their lawyer | Message only; not put through unless you’ve set a rule for it |
What it never says on this call
- Whether the caller has a case, what it’s worth or what will happen.
- Any legal advice, including what to do before the hearing.
- That the firm will take the matter, or that speaking with it makes them a client.
- Whether the firm represents anyone, to anyone but that client.
- Fees or a free consultation, unless you’ve approved the words.
What you decide
- Your practice areas, and what to say to callers outside them.
- Your urgent window, such as a hearing within seven days, an arrest or a deadline to respond, and who takes those calls.
- A safety line for a caller in danger, read before anything else.
- The exact words of your legal advice line and of your line about the firm not yet representing the caller.
- Consultations: booked straight into an attorney’s calendar, or taken as a request for your intake team.
- Fees: what it may say about consultation fees, if anything.
- Spanish-speaking callers, handled on the same line in Spanish; the Spanish-speaking caller protocol shows how.
Your intake team sees the draft before any caller does.
Why this protocol works
Our call protocols come from nearly two decades of running phone reception for small businesses, law offices among them. A law firm intake script goes wrong in two ways: the caller gets advice nobody approved, or a real deadline gets lost in a pile of messages. It never promises what you don’t, so no advice and no commitments. It asks what matters, so the court date comes before the life story. A hearing tomorrow is just as urgent at 11 p.m.; how night calls are sorted is in the after-hours triage protocol. More on our method, on how each new lead arrives ready to act on at lead intake and qualification, and on keeping unwanted calls away at call screening.
Questions attorneys ask about intake calls
Does the AI give legal advice?
No. On a new client intake call it tells callers early that it can’t give legal advice, takes the details your attorneys need and routes the call by your rules. If a caller asks “do I have a case?”, it says an attorney will review their details and doesn’t guess.
Could a caller think they’re now a client of the firm?
Your protocol includes a line, read before the call ends, that taking their details doesn’t mean the firm has agreed to represent them. Your firm writes that line, because the right wording depends on your state and your practice. The AI reads it exactly as written.
How does it help with conflict checks?
It asks for the name of the other person or company involved and puts it in the summary, labeled for a conflict check. It doesn’t run the check or comment on the answer. Your team checks before anyone discusses the matter, and the AI never tells a caller what the check found.
How much does the attorney intake call ask about the case?
As little as possible: a sentence or two about the matter, the other party, any date, and contact details. It doesn’t ask for documents or a full account. That keeps calls short and leaves the real conversation for your attorney.
Is the intake call recorded?
Yes, like every call: recorded, transcribed and sent only where your firm sets. What callers are told about recording is your line, and the notice is explained on call recording consent. Consultations, if you allow it, go straight into the attorney’s calendar, confirmed to the caller only once they’re saved.
Put this protocol on your firm’s line
Give us your practice areas, your urgent window and the lines your firm wants read, and we draft your intake protocol as part of your free setup. Nothing is forwarded until your firm has approved every word. No monthly fee on Pay As You Go; plans are on pricing. More protocols are in the call protocol library.
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