Guide
Answering service for law firms: intake calls, conflicts, and confidentiality
Direct answer
An answering service for law firms should answer every call, collect just enough intake information for the firm to run a conflicts check, and get urgent matters to an attorney fast. It must never give legal advice, tell a caller whether they have a case, or suggest the firm has taken the matter. Under the ABA Model Rules, information from a prospective client is protected even if the firm never takes the case, so the service has to keep it confidential. Legal-specific human services, general receptionist services, and AI voice agents can all handle this, as long as the conflicts check and the engagement decision stay with the firm.
The calls a law firm actually gets
| Caller | What they want | How to handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Prospective clients | "I was in an accident," "I'm getting divorced," "My son was arrested" | Intake questions, no advice, callback from an attorney |
| Current clients | Case status, a document question, a hearing date | Message to the responsible attorney or paralegal |
| Opposing counsel | Scheduling, settlement discussions, discovery | Message to the attorney, flagged if there's a deadline |
| Courts and clerks | Hearing changes, filing issues | Message, usually flagged urgent |
| Vendors and experts | Court reporters, process servers, expert witnesses | Message |
| Solicitations | Marketing, legal software sales | Screened |
Practice area changes the mix. A criminal defense or family law firm gets more after-hours calls about arrests and emergencies. An estate planning firm gets more daytime calls about appointments and document signings.
What's urgent and what can wait
Agree on a short list with your attorneys. A common one:
Get to an attorney now:
- A caller says a family member is in custody or was just arrested
- A court date, filing deadline, or hearing is today or tomorrow
- A caller describes an immediate safety concern, such as a protective order situation. The service should tell them to call 911 if they're in danger.
- A current client says they were just served or contacted by police
- Opposing counsel or a court calls about a same-day matter
Next business day:
- New inquiries in non-emergency practice areas
- Case status questions from current clients
- Billing questions
- Vendor calls
The service shouldn't judge whether a deadline is real or a claim is strong. It should flag what the caller says and let an attorney decide.
What to collect at intake
Collect enough for a conflicts check and a callback, and stop there.
- Caller's full name and contact information
- Names of every other party involved, including the opposing party, other businesses, insurers, and spouses in a family matter. This is what the conflicts check runs on.
- Practice area and a one-line description of the matter
- Any date the caller mentions: an accident date, a court date, a deadline in a letter
- Where the matter is (state and county)
- How they heard about the firm
- Whether they've talked to another lawyer about it
Don't collect the whole story. ABA Model Rule 1.18 treats someone who consults about possibly forming a lawyer-client relationship as a prospective client, and limits how the firm may use or reveal what they share. Detailed facts from a prospect can create a conflict that keeps the firm from representing someone else. Keeping intake short protects both.
The rules that shape law firm call handling
- No legal advice. A receptionist or AI agent that tells a caller what to do about their legal problem risks the unauthorized practice of law. Model Rule 5.5 bars lawyers from assisting in that. The script should say, in plain words, that the person answering can't give legal advice and an attorney will call back.
- Confidentiality. Model Rule 1.6 requires reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure of client information. Ask any service how it stores call recordings and transcripts, who can access them, and how long they're kept.
- Supervision. Model Rule 5.3 makes lawyers responsible for making sure nonlawyer assistance, including outside services, is compatible with their professional obligations. That includes your answering service.
- AI tools. ABA Formal Opinion 512 (July 2024) applies the duties of competence, confidentiality, communication, supervision, and reasonable fees to generative AI. If an AI agent answers your phones, it falls under those duties.
States adopt their own versions of the Model Rules and some bars have issued their own AI guidance, so check your state's rules too.
Your options, with prices as of October 2026
| Service | Type | Published price and terms |
|---|---|---|
| Smith.ai | Live receptionists | $300 a month for 30 calls, $11.50 per extra call, billed per call, no setup fees, month to month |
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | AI, lists Clio among its integrations | Free for 25 calls a month, Pro at $2.00 a call |
| Ruby | Live receptionists, offers client intake | $395 a month for 100 minutes, $720 for 200 minutes |
| LEX Reception | Legal-only live reception | Bills by the minute and rounds each call up to the next full minute, per its FAQ |
| PATLive | Live receptionists, lists new client intake | $189 a month for 100 minutes, 14-day free trial |
A legal-specific service is the better choice if you want receptionists trained on intake for your practice area and connected to your practice management software. Per-call pricing (Smith.ai) suits firms with short calls. Per-minute pricing suits firms that want receptionists to stay on the line longer with prospects. If you need live transfer to an attorney or bilingual intake, choose a human service.
How TeamShift handles law firm calls
TeamShift can answer your firm's line with an AI voice agent, day, night, and weekends. You forward your number or use one TeamShift sets up, and TeamShift's team handles the setup. It says it's an AI assistant at the start of every call.
It answers from a business brief you write: office hours, practice areas, the intake questions above, and the line it uses for "I can't give legal advice, an attorney will call you back." When a caller asks something the brief doesn't cover, it says it doesn't have that and offers a callback instead of guessing. It doesn't give legal opinions.
It collects the intake details and takes messages. Booking a consultation, discussing fees, or anything that would commit the firm isn't done on the call. Those come to you as requests to approve, and the caller is told someone will confirm. The conflicts check and the decision to take the matter stay with the firm. Missed calls and callers who'd rather not talk to AI go to voicemail, and you get a text alert. Each call has a record (outcome and notes) in TeamShift, and in Company Brain you choose what TeamShift may read (see trust).
TeamShift doesn't transfer calls live, doesn't answer in other languages, and doesn't log calls into a specific practice management system. Firms that need those should pick a legal-specific service. Off the phone, the Support worker sorts the firm's inbox and drafts replies for an attorney's OK. Billing is usage-based at 3x compute cost with a quoted maximum (pricing).
What stays with the attorney
- Conflicts checks and the decision to accept or decline a matter
- Any legal advice, including "do you have a case"
- Fee discussions and engagement letters
- Calls from distressed clients and anything involving safety
- Communications with opposing counsel and courts
For the general case for keeping a person over customer calls, see human review gates for AI customer calls. Our law firms page covers the rest of a small firm's operations work.
FAQ
Can an answering service do legal intake?
Yes, if the intake is limited to contact details, party names for a conflicts check, the type of matter, and key dates. The service shouldn't evaluate the case or give advice.
Who runs the conflicts check?
The firm. An answering service collects the names of the parties, and an attorney or conflicts staff checks them against the firm's records before anyone discusses the matter in depth.
Is it ethical to use an AI answering service at a law firm?
It can be, if the firm meets its duties of competence, confidentiality, and supervision, as ABA Formal Opinion 512 describes. Check how the tool stores call data and confirm it won't give legal advice.
What does a law firm answering service cost?
As of October 2026, Smith.ai's live plans start at $300 a month for 30 calls, Ruby starts at $250 for 50 minutes, and Smith.ai's AI receptionist has a free tier for 25 calls a month.
What should the service say when a caller asks for legal advice?
That it can't give legal advice and an attorney will call back. TeamShift's agent uses the wording you put in your brief and offers a callback.