A legal intake script is the written sequence a firm follows on the first call with a prospective client: what to ask, what to answer, and what the next step is; this page is that sequence for a firm owner who wants more calls to end with a booked consultation.
The call sits inside legal intake, and whoever runs it, often an intake specialist, works from a script like this one; that guide covers hiring and supervision.
What the first call has to accomplish
In Clio's 2019 Legal Trends Report survey of 2,000 US consumers with a legal issue, 82% said timeliness mattered, 81% wanted every question answered, 76% wanted a clear sense of cost, and 74% wanted to know the full process.
Those are four jobs: be fast, answer questions, give a cost direction, explain the process.
The same report shows the cost: of people who contacted a firm and did not hire it, 64% said a firm never responded, 65% no indication of what to do next, and 64% no sense of cost (respondents could pick several, so they overlap).
The law firm phone intake script, step by step
The sequence below is an example to adapt, not a template; it assumes the caller contacted the firm first, which the rules treat differently from outreach the firm starts.
1. Answer fast, or return the call the same day
Clio's 2019 phone test of 500 firms found 56% answered, 39% at voicemail, and 57% of those voicemails not returned within 72 hours, leaving 27% of firms unreachable by phone.
Example line: "Thank you for calling [firm], this is [name]."
2. Get the matter and the clock
Example line: "Can you tell me in a sentence or two what happened, and when did it happen?"
3. Screen for conflicts before the story
Example line: "Have you spoken with or hired another lawyer about this, and who else is involved?" (the names are what a conflict check runs against)
4. Answer what the caller actually asked
In Clio's 2024 test, 41% of firms gave rate information on a call, 12% could estimate total cost, and 36% could explain the process and next steps.
A direction is enough: how the firm charges for matters like this, and what the consultation decides; whether to quote fees is the firm's decision, and its state's fee rules apply.
5. Book before hanging up
Example line: "The next step is a consultation with [attorney]; I have Tuesday at 2 pm open."
6. Log the source, the stage and the outcome
Intake CRMs sell intake scripts as a feature and report by source; the reports are only as good as the logging behind them.
Law firm intake questions that earn their place
A question earns its place if it changes what happens next.
- The matter and when it happened, to judge urgency.
- Who else is involved, the parties a conflict check runs against.
- Whether another lawyer is already involved.
- Where the caller is, since jurisdiction decides whether the firm can act.
- How the caller found the firm, so the source gets logged.
- What outcome the caller wants, which tells the lawyer what the consultation must answer.
Everything else waits for the consultation: the more a script collects, the more the firm holds under the duties below; collecting little first is our recommendation, not a rule's text.
What the rules say about the first call
ABA Model Rule 1.18 says a person who consults a lawyer about possibly forming a client-lawyer relationship is a prospective client, and even if no relationship follows, the lawyer may not use or reveal what was learned, except as Rule 1.9 allows for a former client.
Under 1.18(c), information that could be significantly harmful can disqualify the lawyer from the adverse side of the same or a substantially related matter, with the conflict imputed to the firm.
The comment to Rule 1.18 adds that a consultation is likely to have occurred when advertising specifically invites submission of information about a potential representation without clear limiting warnings and someone responds, which is why many firms put a no attorney-client relationship notice by their forms; the comment describes the trigger, not a guaranteed safe harbor, and state versions vary.
The form side of that is its own guide: law firm website ethics.
The other line is solicitation: ABA Model Rule 7.3 defines it as a communication initiated by or for a lawyer, directed to a specific person the lawyer knows or should know needs legal services in a particular matter, and offering to provide those services.
The comments say a communication to the general public, or in response to a request for information, is not solicitation, and live person-to-person contact excludes easily disregarded texts.
Rule 7.3(b) bars live person-to-person solicitation for pecuniary gain subject to listed exceptions; 7.3(c) bars coercion, duress, harassment, and soliciting anyone who has said no.
The call the script covers
- The caller filled out the form, dialed the firm, or asked for a call back.
- The comments put responses to requests for information outside solicitation.
The contact Rule 7.3 calls solicitation
- The firm initiates contact with a person it knows or should know needs legal services.
- 7.3(b) bars the live version for pecuniary gain; 7.3(c) adds do-not-solicit requests and coercion.
ABA Model Rules bind no one until a state adopts them: ABA Formal Opinion 501 noted, as of April 13, 2022, that Florida's rule 4-7.18(a) bars in-person or telephone solicitation for pecuniary gain of anyone without a prior family or professional relationship, whether or not the lawyer knows the person needs legal services.
Recording is the third rule: federal wiretap law (18 U.S.C. §2511(2)(d)) lets a party to a call record it unless it is done to commit a crime or tort, some states require every party's consent, Florida's among them (only when all parties consent, Fla. Stat. §934.03), and announcing recording at the start of calls is common practice, not a legal conclusion (state detail in the call recording guide).
Who may run the call: ABA Formal Opinion 506 (June 7, 2023) says a lawyer may train and supervise a nonlawyer to do prospective-client intake, from initial facts to conflict check to fee agreement, as long as the prospective client can always speak with a lawyer; whether the nonlawyer may answer a given question is a Rule 5.5 question, and the opinion is guidance, not binding law.
How to tell if the script works
No published, method-disclosed benchmark was found for how many intake calls end in a consultation or signed case, so the comparison that matters is your own history.
Clio's 2019 test is the only published law-firm secret-shopper study found that discloses who was contacted, how and on what scenario, so run it on yourself: call, email and chat your own line, logging answer rate, reply time, and whether cost and next steps came up.
That internal test is our recommendation built on Clio's published criteria, not a Clio recommendation.
Judge it by consultations booked from calls, and the consultation-to-signed-case rate behind them.
More Booked Cases does not write scripts or train intake staff; the work here is CRO and local SEO, testing website and landing pages and measuring consultation and signed-case rates with read access to intake numbers.
These are model rules, ABA opinions and named statutes, described as they read and not as advice: confirm how your state's version applies with your state bar's ethics counsel or an ethics lawyer.
Frequently asked questions
What should a law firm say on the first intake call?
Identify the caller and the matter, check for conflicts, answer the caller's questions, and name the next step with a time attached. The step-by-step sequence and sample lines are in the guide.
What questions should a law firm intake call ask?
The ones that change what happens next: the matter and when it happened, the other people involved, whether another lawyer is already in the picture, where the caller is, how they found the firm, and what outcome they want.
Should an intake script cover what the matter will cost?
In Clio's 2019 survey, 76% of consumers with a legal issue wanted a clear sense of cost. In Clio's separate 2024 phone test, 41% of firms gave rate information, only 12% could estimate total cost, and only 36% could explain the process and next steps. Whether to quote fees on the call is the firm's decision, and its state's fee rules apply.
How do I know if my intake script is working?
Mystery-shop your own firm by phone, form and chat, logging answer rate, time to reply, and whether cost and next steps came up, then judge the script by consultations booked and the consultation-to-signed-case rate behind them.
Does More Booked Cases sell intake scripts or training?
No. More Booked Cases does not staff or train intake; it tests the website and landing pages and measures consultation and signed-case rates, with read access to the firm's intake and CRM numbers.