A client intake form for law firms
A first intake at a law firm has a narrow job: decide whether to offer a consultation, and gather what you need to check for conflicts before that consultation happens. Ask for that and little else. The detailed account belongs in the consultation.
What should law firms ask first?
| Ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| What kind of matter is this? | Offer the practice areas you handle as a choice, so a matter you do not take can be referred the same day. |
| Who else is involved, by name? | The other parties’ names are what your conflict check runs on. |
| Where is it: which state, and which county if it is in court? | It tells you whether your attorneys can take it. |
| Is there a court date, a deadline, or a date when this happened? | A date can change how urgently the inquiry needs an answer. |
| In a sentence or two, what would you like help with? | Enough to route the inquiry to the right attorney, and no more. |
| Have you already spoken to another lawyer about this? | It tells you whether you are a first opinion, a second one, or a replacement. |
| How should we contact you, and is it all right to leave a message? | Some prospective clients cannot safely receive a call or a voicemail about their matter. |
If an answer would not change what you do next, leave the question out. Each extra question is one more reason for someone to stop before they finish.
Keep the first intake to what you need to check for conflicts and decide on a consultation. Ask for a short description, not the full story. Whatever else your firm needs can be collected after conflicts clear, through the channel you already use for client information.
Which answers come back too vague to use, and what do you ask next?
The answers that cause a phone call are rarely missing. They are present and too loose to act on. A narrower follow-up, asked straight away while the person is still there, usually settles them. Offering likely answers shows the person the level of detail you need.
| What comes back | The follow-up that settles it |
|---|---|
| “It’s about my divorce.” | Are you looking to file, or has your spouse already filed? If they have, is there a court date? |
| “A problem with my landlord.” | Is this about getting a deposit back, repairs, or an eviction notice you have received? |
| “It happened a while ago.” | Roughly when: within the last year, one to two years ago, or longer? |
Follow up once per gap, then move on. If an answer is still unclear after one follow-up, flag it for whoever picks the request up rather than pressing.
When is a call or a visit still the right move?
The consultation is the conversation that matters, and nothing written replaces it. What the intake changes is who gets one and how prepared the attorney is: the conflict check has already run, the matter has reached someone who handles that kind of case, and the first meeting starts from the facts rather than from “so, what brings you in?”
How do you set this up from the Client intake template?
Acquainto has a Client intake template to start from. After you sign up, open Browse templates, pick Client intake, and it lands in the editor as a draft you can change before anything is published.
The template asks for a name and email, branches on the service the person is interested in, and asks a follow-up question for each service line. For a law firm, turn the service choice into your practice areas, put the other parties, location and dates on every branch, and use each branch’s own question for what that practice area needs first.
Acquainto runs it as a short written conversation instead of a form. It:
- asks a follow-up when an answer is incomplete, and asks for clarification when one is vague;
- uses a structured choice where precision matters and open conversation where detail matters;
- shows the person every answer before it is sent, so they correct their own mistakes;
- hands back one clean value per question, delivered to your own systems by webhook.
The person answering needs no account, and nothing has to be scheduled. Start free trial, see how it works, or compare plans.