Law firm
intake checklist.

1. Record each new inquiry.

Check calls, website forms, email and referrals. Each inquiry should have one record your team can find. Check for an existing record before adding another.

Record the source, contact details, date received and current status. Use your firm's approved screening questions. Send questions that need legal judgment to an attorney.

2. Give the next step an owner.

For each open inquiry, record who is responsible, what they need to do and when it is due. “Follow up” alone does not tell the next person enough.

For example: “Alex will send the attorney-approved next steps by Tuesday at 2 p.m.” Use a named team member and an agreed date, rather than leaving the task with the whole team.

3. Check missed follow-ups.

Review tasks due today and tasks already late. For each one, check the last contact, any reply and the agreed next step. Reassign work when someone is away.

If someone has asked not to be contacted, follow your firm's process for recording and honoring that request. Do not leave them in an active follow-up queue.

4. Check consultation handoffs.

After a consultation, confirm that staff can see the attorney-approved next step. Record whether the prospect needs more information, an agreement, a payment step or another conversation.

If the consultation was missed, record that outcome and assign the agreed next action. Keep a requested appointment separate from a confirmed appointment.

5. Record what happened.

Use the same status names across the team. Separate inquiries awaiting a reply from people who declined, matters the firm cannot take and clients who signed.

Track signing and payment separately when they happen at different times. A promise to pay is not a payment. If you record a reason an inquiry ended, use what the person said or what the firm decided.

6. Review a call together.

Use a call your firm is allowed to review. Check whether the staff member understood the inquiry, explained the next step clearly and recorded what was agreed.

• Did they ask the approved screening questions?
• Did they explain fees using the firm's approved wording?
• Did they send legal questions to the right attorney?
• Did they agree on a clear next step?
• Does the record match the conversation?

Choose one change to practice. Review it again on a later call. Our sales team coaching includes practice conversations and call reviews.

Before the day ends.

Check for unanswered inquiries, overdue tasks and records with no owner or next step. Decide who will handle each one and when. Bring repeated problems to the supervisor so the process can be fixed.

This is a starting checklist. Your attorneys approve legal decisions, fees and client messages; your supervisor manages daily work.