The Small Law Firm's Intake Playbook
Most small firms do not have a marketing problem. They have a gap between the phone ringing and the retainer clearing. Here are eight steps your front desk can run tomorrow to close it, with or without new software.
Where callers slip away
A caller who wants a lawyer today rarely waits for one tomorrow. They call the next firm on the list. In a small firm the same few leaks show up again and again:
- A voicemail returned the next day, after the caller has already hired someone else.
- Intake notes on a sticky pad, so the attorney walks into the consult knowing nothing.
- A conflict found after the consult, when the time is already spent.
- An engagement letter that sits in a draft folder for three days.
- A retainer that needs a paper check, so the client "will get to it."
- Nobody following up with the people who said "let me think about it."
Each step below closes one of these leaks. None of them needs a bigger staff.
1. Call back the same day
Speed wins more new matters than price. Give one person the job of returning every new caller, and set a rule the whole firm knows: every new inquiry hears back the same business day, and calls after 4 pm hear back by 10 am.
2. Take the same facts every time
Write the questions down once and ask them on every call, in the same order. The attorney then reads one short page before the consult instead of starting from zero.
- Full name, phone and email
- Who is on the other side (every name, spelled out)
- The type of matter, in the caller's own words
- Any date that cannot be missed: a court date, a filing deadline, a closing
- How they found the firm
- The best time to reach them
The deadline question matters most. A matter with a filing date next week goes to the top of the list today.
3. Clear conflicts before the consult
Run every name on the other side against your current and past clients before anyone books a consultation. Finding a conflict after an hour with a prospective client costs the hour, and it can cost you the right to take the matter at all.
Keep one list of every person and company your firm has ever been on either side of. A conflict check is only as good as that list.
4. Book the consult on the call
Never end an intake call with "we will reach out to schedule." Offer two times while the caller is on the line, confirm by email or text right away, and send a reminder the day before.
A booked consult is a commitment. A promise to schedule is a lost lead.
5. Send the letter the same day
Keep your engagement letter as a template with blanks for the name, the matter and the fee. When the consult goes well, send it before the end of the day, for signature online. People sign while they still feel the relief of finding a lawyer. Three days later they are comparing quotes.
6. Make the retainer easy to pay
Send a payment link with the engagement letter so the retainer is paid the same evening, by card or bank transfer. Retainers belong in your trust account, so use a payment setup built for law firm trust accounting and follow your state bar's rules on how client money is held and moved.
7. Follow up, then close the file
Most people who do not sign right away are not saying no. They are busy. Follow up on a fixed schedule: a short note on day 1, a call on day 3, a last email on day 7.
When someone does not sign, send a non-engagement letter that says, in plain words, that the firm does not represent them and that any deadlines remain theirs to meet. It protects the firm and it is a courteous ending.
8. Know where every lead stands
Put every new inquiry in one list and give each one a stage. At any moment you know who is waiting on you and who you are waiting on.
- New
- Called or wrote in, nobody has spoken to them yet
- Contacted
- Someone spoke to them and took the intake facts
- Conflict cleared
- No conflict with a current or past client
- Consult booked
- A date and time is set
- Letter sent
- The engagement letter is out for signature
- Signed
- Letter signed and retainer paid: a client and a matter
- Closed
- Declined, no answer after follow up, or referred out, with a non-engagement letter sent
Then spend fifteen minutes each week on three numbers: how many people called, how many booked a consult, and how many signed. When one of them drops, you know exactly which step to fix.
The one page checklist
Print this and keep it at the front desk.
- Every call returned the same business day
- The same six facts taken on every call
- Conflict check run before the consultation
- Consultation booked before the caller hangs up
- Engagement letter sent the same day, signed online
- Retainer paid online, into the trust account
- Follow up on day 1, day 3 and day 7
- A non-engagement letter for everyone who does not sign
- Every lead in one list, with its stage
- Fifteen minutes each week on the numbers
This guide shares good intake practice. It is not legal advice. Check your state bar's rules on conflicts, engagement letters and trust accounts.