Legal intake automation for law and accounting firms
Legal intake automation turns web forms, emails and call notes into structured client and matter records, prepares the names for a conflict check and runs it against your system, then sets up approved clients in your practice management and billing tools. A named person clears every potential conflict before work starts.
Client and matter intake · one run
Rules · Model · Person- 1
Capture the inquiry
Rules - 2
Extract parties and facts
Model - 3
Prepare name variants
Rules - 4
Clear the conflict check
Person - 5
Open the records
Rules - 6
Acknowledge the client
Model
- What goes in
- Web intake forms, inquiry emails, call notes and referral details
- What comes out
- Client and matter records, a conflict search report and set-up in practice and billing systems
- Who approves
- Responsible attorney or partner, who clears conflicts and accepts the matter
Where the time goes today
What professional services teams tell us about this work.
The same details typed four times
Name, address, matter description and referral source travel from an email to the CRM, the conflicts spreadsheet, the practice management system and the billing system. Each retype is a chance for a misspelled party name.
Conflict searches depend on how a name was typed
'Robert Smith' and 'Bob Smith, Smith Holdings LLC' should return the same hits. Searches run on whatever the intake person typed, and related parties such as opposing parties and affiliates are missed when nobody asks.
Prospects wait
An inquiry at 7 p.m. waits until morning, then a form goes out, then it comes back half complete. Some prospects move on to the next firm in the meantime.
How the automated workflow runs
Each step is fixed rules, a model reading or drafting, or a person on your team. The people steps are where approvals sit.
- 1
Capture the inquiry
A form, email or call note becomes a record. Missing required fields trigger a short follow-up message to the prospect.
Rules - 2
Extract parties and facts
Reads the narrative for the client, related and opposing parties, affiliates, matter type, key dates and referral source, and fills the intake record.
Model - 3
Prepare name variants
Builds search terms from spelling variants, nicknames, former names and company suffixes, and runs them against your conflicts database or practice management system.
Rules - 4
Clear the conflict check
The responsible person reviews every potential hit with its context and clears, escalates or declines. Nothing proceeds on silence.
Person - 5
Open the records
On clearance, creates the client and matter in your practice management and billing systems with the intake data, assigns the team and issues the matter number.
Rules - 6
Acknowledge the client
Sends a confirmation drafted from your template, with next steps and the documents to prepare, for a staff member to approve.
Model
Want to see how a project like this is scoped and delivered? Read how we work.
Controls and approvals
- The system prepares and runs the conflict search, and a named person reviews and clears every potential conflict before a client or matter is opened.
- Prospect information is treated as confidential from the first message. Access follows the matter team, and declined prospects are kept or deleted according to your policy.
- Intake messages carry the disclaimers your firm approves. Professional-conduct rules on AI and client communication differ by jurisdiction, so we set scope with your ethics or compliance lead.
What we leave to people
We do not decide whether a conflict exists or whether to take a client. Messages to prospects say plainly that nothing in them is legal advice and that no attorney-client relationship exists until the firm accepts the matter.
Systems it connects to
Examples of tools we work with for this workflow. Anything with an API or a controlled interface is in scope.
- Clio
- Karbon
- iManage
- Microsoft 365
- HubSpot
- QuickBooks
We read intake from your website forms and mailbox, search for conflicts in the system you use today, and create records in your practice management and billing tools through their APIs, or controlled browser automation where there is none.
What to measure
We set a baseline from your own records in the audit, then report these every month.
Illustrative example
A firm that opens 60 matters a month and spends 35 minutes on re-keying and search preparation for each uses 35 hours. Retyping is the part that shrinks. The attorney's review of the conflict results is the part we leave alone.
| Measure | How to read it |
|---|---|
| Time to first response | Minutes from an inquiry arriving to the prospect getting a reply. |
| Intake complete on first pass | Share of inquiries that reach a full record without a second request. |
| Staff minutes per intake | Time spent on re-keying and search preparation, sampled before and after launch. |
| Corrections after opening | Client or matter records that needed edits after they were opened, by field. |
Common questions
Can intake automation run conflict checks?
It prepares the search terms and runs the search in your system, which is the slow and error-prone part. A person reviews every potential conflict and clears it. The system never clears one by itself.
Is it appropriate for AI to talk to prospective clients?
That depends on your jurisdiction, your clients and your risk appetite. We scope it with your ethics or compliance lead, keep the assistant to gathering facts and logistics, and use disclaimers you approve.
Does it work for accounting firms and consultancies?
Yes. The conflict step becomes an independence or engagement-acceptance check, and the records go to your practice management and billing tools. The intake form and the questions change with the service.
Which systems does it connect to?
Practice management such as Clio or Karbon, document management such as iManage, and accounting tools such as QuickBooks, Xero or NetSuite. We confirm what your plan allows during the audit.
Related
- SolutionWorkflow automationEnd-to-end automation of multi-step processes across your CRM, ERP, email and internal tools.Read more
- BlueprintCustomer onboarding systemIntake and set-up are the hand-off and kickoff stages of customer onboarding, applied to a new client or matter.Read more
- IndustryAI for professional servicesClient intake, document collection, engagement letters, deadlines and billing, automated.Read more
Tell us how your professional services team handles this today.
A 30-minute call with an engineer. You will leave knowing what a system could do for that workflow and what it would take to build.
What happens next
- 1
Strategy call
We learn how the workflow runs today and what a good outcome would be.
- 2
Workflow audit
We map the process and measure where a system would save the most time.
- 3
Proposal
A written scope, timeline and fixed price for your first system. No obligation to build.