What solo attorneys can learn from firms with intake teams (even if you can’t afford one yet)

Everyone talks about how big firms have dedicated intake teams answering every call, scheduling every lead, and filtering out the noise. As a solo attorney, you may not have the budget (or headcount) to replicate that right now.

And yet, there are practical, low-cost ways to capture the best of intake teams—without hiring a full-time person.

In this article, I’ll walk you through actionable steps to systematize your intake and triage process, so you can spend less time chasing leads and more time practicing law.

Why intake teams matter (and why you don’t need one—yet)

At larger firms, intake teams serve two main purposes:

1. Consistency: They ask every potential client the same questions, collect the same information, and deliver a uniform qualifying process to the attorney.
2. Filtering: They screen out spam calls, price shoppers, or queries outside the firm’s scope, so lawyers focus on cases that matter.

Law practices often see calls come in at all hours—some genuine emergencies, others just browsers checking attorney websites. Without a consistent structure, dozens of promising leads can slip away via dropped calls, scattered notes, or a chaotic calendar.

Remember: leads contacted within one hour are 7x more likely to convert than those reached later, and delays beyond five minutes can reduce qualification odds by nearly 400%.

It might seem like hiring full-time phone staff is the only answer, but there are cost-effective systems and tools that can replicate many of an intake team’s benefits on a lean budget.

1. Document your ideal intake workflow

Why this matters: An intake team doesn’t guess which questions to ask. They follow a scripted checklist. If you don’t know exactly what information you need, you’ll either miss key details or waste time on irrelevant questions.

Action steps:

List your must-have information. At a minimum, you need:

• Client’s name, contact info, and preferred method of communication
• Brief description of the legal issue (e.g., “I was in a car accident on May 10.”)
• Time sensitivity (e.g., “Filing deadline is three days away.”)
• Budget or fee expectations (even if it’s rough)
• Any immediate conflicts (e.g., “Opposing party is someone I know.”)

Sketch a simple intake form. Whether it’s a Google Form, a fillable PDF, or a page on your website, draft a form that covers those must-haves. I like Google Forms because it’s free, mobile-friendly, and you can automatically push responses to a spreadsheet.

Map the email/phone scripts. For calls, keep a one-page script next to your desk or set up a quick sticky note with bullet points. Example:

• Thank you for calling. May I have your name and number?
• Please give me a one-sentence overview of the issue.
• Is there a deadline I should know about?
• Are you currently represented by another attorney?
• What’s the best time to reach you if I need clarification?

Once you’ve captured that workflow, you can refine it as you learn which questions matter most. That’s the core of intake consistency.

2. Leverage technology to automate wherever possible

Why this matters: Intake teams use firm-wide CRM platforms (Clio Grow, Lawmatics, etc.) that automate follow-ups, schedule reminders, and push data into calendars. As a solo, you can’t justify a $200-a-month platform. But you can imitate many of the same features with free or low-cost tools.

Action steps:

Use a shared calendar with automated links. Set up a free Calendly or Acuity account. Link it to your Google Calendar. Embed your scheduling link on your website so potential clients can book a 15-minute call directly. That way, you eliminate back-and-forth email ping-pong.

Create email templates. Draft a few canned responses for common scenarios: initial triage (e.g., “Thanks for reaching out—based on what you’ve described, here’s our next step…”), fee details (e.g., “My hourly rate is…”), or conflict notifications. Save these in Gmail as “canned responses,” or use a free email-marketing tool (Mailchimp, MailerLite) for more robust tagging and sequence automation.

Integrate form responses with your to-do list. Link your intake form to a spreadsheet (Google Sheets). Then, connect that sheet to a to-do tool like Trello or Todoist using a Zapier free-tier integration. For example: whenever a new form response appears, Zapier creates a new card in Trello labeled “New Intake – [Client Name].” That card can have checklists for follow up, initial review, and next steps.

By automating those handoffs—from form to spreadsheet to task board—you reduce the risk of a lead getting away from you.

3. Build simple triage criteria

Why this matters: One of the biggest functions of an intake team is to qualify a call quickly. Does the potential client need a consultation tomorrow—or is it a parking ticket they can handle themselves? Triage criteria let you make decisions in seconds, not minutes.

Action steps:

Define your ideal client profile. Ask yourself: What types of cases do I love? Which ones drain me? If you practice family law, is a simple name change worthwhile, or do you prefer custody disputes? Write it down.

Set red-flag filters. For instance, “No battery-within-48-hours claims” or “No landlord-tenant issues beyond small claims.” Make a short “in/ out” checklist. When someone calls, run through:

• Does this issue match my practice area?
• Is there an urgent deadline?
• Does the potential fee justify the intake time?
• Are there obvious conflicts?

Train your voicemail or AI answering service. Even if you’re not ready for a full intake team, you can record a business voicemail greeting that asks callers to leave key details (e.g., “Please describe the nature of your issue, any upcoming deadlines, and the best way to reach you”). If you have a basic chatbot or AI answering service like Upfirst, program it to ask those same triage questions. It can catch everything you need, and it will save you time sifting through voicemail.

Solid triage criteria ensure that when you do pick up the phone, you already have enough context to decide “yes,” “no,” or “let’s schedule a deeper conversation.”

4. Use virtual or part-time help strategically

Why this matters: If you can’t afford a full-time intake team, consider outsourcing only the tasks that steal the most of your time. That might be returning calls, entering data, or sending standard emails.

Action steps:

Hire a virtual assistant (VA) or part-time paralegal. You don’t need someone on your payroll five days a week. Even a few hours a week can free up significant time. For $15-$20/hour, you can pay a VA to:

• Sort new form submissions and highlight high-priority items.
• Fill your calendar based on your Calendly availability.
• Send standard “here’s our fee schedule” emails.

Use an attorney answering service to handle initial intake. If you are falling behind on calls and missing out on possible leads, consider going the answering service route:

• Find an affordable virtual receptionist service to help take messages and gather lead information.
• Relay to them your simple triage criteria.
• Get updates on every call and follow up on the most qualified leads.
• Set them up to take every call you receive, or just the ones you miss. That way, you're capturing every caller.

Be laser-clear on tasks. Don’t expect a VA to know legalese. Give them a checklist:

• Check new email inbox labeled “Intake.”
• Copy client name, phone number, and a short summary into the spreadsheet.
• If the case matches our practice area, add the “Qualified” tag and schedule a call.
• If it doesn’t match, send a “Thank you for reaching out, but we don’t handle X” template.

Review weekly. Schedule 15 minutes each Friday to scan what the VA handled: Which leads were promising? Which got filtered out? That way, you maintain control over intake quality without doing every single step yourself.

5. Commit to ongoing refinement

Why this matters: Even large firms tweak their scripts, forms, and filters as they learn. If you set up a one-and-done workflow, it will grow outdated. Commit to revisiting your intake process every quarter.

• Track basic metrics. You don’t need a fancy dashboard. On your spreadsheet, add columns for “Date of Inquiry,” “Date of First Contact,” “Case Type,” and “Outcome” (e.g., “Fee agreed,” “No follow-up,” “Conflict”). After 30 days, glance at which case types converted most often.
• Ask for feedback. When a lead converts into a client, send them a short satisfaction survey: “Was our initial intake process clear? Did you receive a timely response?” A single Google Form question or quick text message can highlight pain points.
• Iterate. Maybe your current script asks too many questions up front, scaring away callers. Or perhaps you’re missing urgent deadlines because your voicemail greeting doesn’t explicitly ask about timing. Tweak those scripts based on real-world feedback.

Wrapping up

You don’t need a multi-person intake department to run an efficient, consistent, and professional intake process. By documenting your workflow, leveraging affordable technology, setting clear triage criteria, and using part-time help, you can create a system that captures the right leads and filters out the noise—just like the big firms do.

It’s not about having the fanciest tools; it’s about building repeatable steps that save time and reduce guesswork. Start small, test what works, and refine as you go. Before you know it, you’ll have an intake process that feels like a well-oiled machine—without the overhead of a full-blown intake team.