IndustriesLaw firms
Law firm client intake that answers the enquiry before another firm does
Someone fills in your form at 9pm, often at a stressful moment. Before they become a client there's intake, a conflict check, a consultation and an engagement letter. We set up your intake so each step happens promptly and in order, with your lawyers deciding everything that needs a lawyer.
Firms that take on clients through enquiriesClio Grow, with Clio ManageFixed price, agreed up front
One enquiry, first contact to open matterExample
- Web enquiry, acknowledgement sentMinute 1
- Intake form completedSame day
- Conflict check by the firmDay 1
- Consultation booked, reminders sentDay 2
- Engagement letter signedWeek 1
- Matter opens in Clio ManageWeek 1
Common starting situations
Where law firms usually lose potential clients.
- The 9pm enquiry
Someone writes in the evening, often at a stressful moment, and hears nothing until the office opens.
- The same questions, three times
Details are taken on the phone, then on a form, then again at the consultation.
- Consultations booked by email tennis
Times go back and forth, nobody sends a reminder, and some consultations simply don't happen.
- The consultation that went nowhere
Someone met a lawyer and didn't instruct, and nobody followed up or recorded why.
- Enquiries with no source
The firm pays for directories and ads but can't see which enquiries became matters.
- Retyping into Clio Manage
A new client's details are typed in again when the matter opens, with the errors that brings.
The legal work is rarely the problem. The gaps are in the handoffs around it: between the enquiry and the consultation, and between the consultation and the decision.
How legal intake works
Three steps before someone becomes a client.
Most intake setups are built for the first one. The consultation and the decision are where potential clients most often go quiet.
“Can someone help me with this?”
The enquiry
Hours
- Automate: a prompt acknowledgement, the intake form, and a booking link for the right consultation type
- Keep human: deciding whether the firm can and should take the matter, including the conflict check
- Usual failure: the enquiry waits until morning, and by then they may have contacted other firms
“What will this involve?”
The consultation
Days
- Automate: booking, reminders by email and text, and a note of what to bring
- Keep human: the consultation itself, and any advice
- Usual failure: the time is agreed by email back-and-forth, and nobody reminds them
“I need to think about it.”
The decision
Weeks
- Automate: a follow-up after the consultation, the engagement letter and e-signature, and the hand-off into Clio Manage
- Keep human: the conversation about scope and fees
- Usual failure: nobody follows up, and nobody records why they didn't instruct
Clio Grow can add up to five automated reminders to a booked appointment, by email or, for North American numbers, by text,1 and when a matter is converted to Clio Manage, its contacts and matter details sync across.2 The work is deciding what each step should say, and when.
Being careful with legal work
Automation handles the admin. Judgement stays with your lawyers.
Intake is partly admin and partly professional judgement, and the two are easy to blur once messages start sending themselves.
So before anything is built, we agree where automation stops. In most firms the line falls in the same places, and every step that needs a lawyer stays with one.
- Acknowledging and qualifying: automated, within limits
A prompt, plain reply that says what happens next, and the qualifying questions you choose. Nothing comments on the person's matter. If you use Clio's Grow AI, it is set up so it never gives legal advice.
- The conflict check: your firm
Intake can collect the names and details the check needs. Running it, and deciding what a conflict means, stays with you.
- Whether to take the matter: your firm
Intake routes the enquiry to the right person. It never accepts or declines a case on its own.
- Every client-facing message: signed off by your firm
Emails, texts and forms are written to your professional conduct rules and approved by the firm before they go live.
What we set up
What a law firm intake setup covers.
Your proposal lists which of these your project includes. What is possible depends on your Clio plan, which we confirm in discovery.
Lead sources and Lead Inbox
Website forms, directories, calls and referrals arriving in one inbox, with the source recorded so you can see which ones become matters.
Intake forms by practice area
Forms that collect what the lawyer needs, once, including the names a conflict check needs, with different questions for each practice area.
Matter pipeline
Pipeline statuses that match how your firm actually moves a potential client from enquiry to signed engagement.
Consultation booking and reminders
Consultation types, availability and automated reminders, so potential clients can book without phone tag.
Follow-up after consultations
A follow-up when a consultation doesn't become an instruction, with the reason recorded when someone decides not to go ahead.
Engagement and e-signature
Engagement letter templates and e-signature where your Clio plan includes them, so a new client can be signed without printing or chasing.
Clio Manage hand-off
The sync between Clio Grow and Clio Manage checked end to end, so a hired client arrives in Manage with complete contact and matter details.
Intake reporting
Enquiries, consultations and conversion by source and practice area, in reports partners will actually look at.
Training and handover
Intake staff and lawyers trained on the same process, and the setup documented so the firm owns it.
Platforms
Clio Grow, or a general CRM.
If you already use Clio Grow, the answer is usually to fix it rather than switch.
Being clear about limits
What better intake won't fix.
A good setup makes intake prompt, consistent and visible. Some problems sit outside the software, and we would rather say so up front.
- 01Legal advice and case decisions
Automation never gives advice or decides whether to take a case. Client messages are built to your conduct rules and signed off by your firm.
- 02Conflict checks
We can collect the information a conflict check needs and route it to whoever runs it. The check, and the decision about any conflict, stay with your firm.
- 03Capacity you don't have
A prompt acknowledgement buys time. It doesn't replace a lawyer. If nobody can take a consultation this week, faster intake only moves the queue.
- 04Confidentiality and data rules
We set up permissions and keep sensitive details out of automated messages where we can, but your obligations on confidentiality and data protection remain your firm's.
How it works
How a law firm intake project runs.
- 01
Discovery
How enquiries arrive, who handles intake, how conflicts are checked and how consultations are booked today.
- 02
Intake map
Every practice area with its intake form, consultation type, follow-up and engagement step, agreed before anything is built.
- 03
Build and test
Forms, pipeline, workflows and booking, then a test enquiry run through to a matter in Clio Manage.
- 04
Handover
Training for intake staff and lawyers, documentation, and optional support once you're live.
Before and after
What we need from you, and what you receive.
What we need
Confirmed during discovery
- Admin access to Clio Grow and Clio Manage, or your platform choice
- Your practice areas, and the questions each one needs answered
- How enquiries are handled and conflicts checked today
- Your consultation types and engagement letter templates
- A partner or practice manager to sign off client-facing wording
At handover
Final scope set in your proposal
- Intake forms for each practice area
- Consultation booking with reminders tested
- Follow-up after consultations, with reasons recorded
- The Clio Manage hand-off checked end to end
- Documentation and training by role
Questions
Law firm intake FAQs
Choosing and fixing intake
Is Clio Grow the right intake tool for our firm?
If you already use Clio Manage, it is usually the natural choice: Clio Grow handles intake before you are hired, Clio Manage handles the matter afterwards, and the two sync. If you aren't on Clio, a general CRM can hold intake and follow-up instead. We recommend the smallest setup that fits how your firm takes on clients.
Can you fix our existing Clio Grow setup?
Yes. Common issues are default pipeline statuses nobody uses, workflows that were never switched on, intake forms that don't match the practice, lead sources that aren't recorded and a hand-off to Clio Manage that still needs retyping. We audit the setup, rebuild what matters and document the intake process.
Intake and the law
Will automation ever give legal advice?
No. Automated messages acknowledge enquiries, send forms and booking links, and remind people about appointments. They don't comment on anyone's matter. If you use Clio's Grow AI, we set it up with limits so it never gives legal advice, and every client-facing message is signed off by your firm.
Do you run conflict checks?
No. We set up intake to collect the names and details your conflict check needs, and route the enquiry to whoever runs it. The check, and the decision about any conflict, stay with your firm.
How do consultation reminders work?
Clio Grow can add up to five automated reminders to a booked appointment, sent by email, or by text for prospective clients with a North American number. We set the timing with you and test it with a sample booking.
What happens when a client hires us?
When a matter is converted from Clio Grow to Clio Manage, its contacts and matter details sync across, so nobody retypes them. We check that sync end to end before handover.
Projects
How is a law firm intake project priced?
Every project starts with a discovery call. The proposal then sets out the deliverables, exclusions, milestones and a fixed project price. Platform subscriptions are paid directly to the platform and are separate from our fee.
Platform features checked against Clio's documentation in October 2026. Sources: 1. Clio Help Center, Text Message Notifications and Reminders in Clio Grow. 2. Clio Help Center, Set Up Clio Grow. 3. Clio Help Center, Clio Grow Automated Workflows. Nothing on this page is legal advice. Platform names are trademarks of their owners. Sage Kite is an independent consultant and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or certified by Clio.
Answer the enquiry before another firm does.
A discovery call looks at how enquiries reach you, how intake and consultations work today, and where potential clients go quiet. We'll tell you plainly where we'd start.