What do law firm clients and prospective clients contact you about?
Two groups write to a firm. Prospective clients want to know whether you take their kind of matter, what a consultation costs and when they can see someone. Current clients ask where their case stands, when the next date is and what they owe. Agent can close the logistics in both groups; anything that calls for legal judgment goes to a person.
| Conversation type | Can Agent resolve it? | Hand off when | Data Agent needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Do you handle my kind of case?" | Yes, from your practice areas and jurisdictions | The person starts describing facts in detail, or the matter is outside your listed areas and needs a referral judgment | Practice areas, states and counties served, matters you decline |
| Book an initial consultation | Yes, once conflicts clear | Conflicts come back flagged or unclear, or the prospect asks for a specific partner | Consult calendars by practice group, consult types and lengths |
| Conflict check details | Partly: collects names and submits them; never reports the result itself | Always, if the check flags anything | Intake fields: client name, other names used, adverse parties, related companies |
| Consultation fees and how the firm bills | Yes, from your published fee policy | The prospect wants to negotiate, or asks what their whole matter will cost | Consult fee, contingency, hourly and flat-fee policy by practice area |
| "What's happening with my case?" | Partly: repeats the last update and next event your team recorded | The client asks what it means, what to do, or how it will turn out | Matter status, last client-facing note, next key date |
| Hearing, deposition or meeting logistics | Yes: date, time, address or video link, what to bring | The client wants to move a court date, says they can't attend, or missed one | Calendar entries marked client-visible, approved checklists |
| Send or sign documents | Yes, by secure portal or e-signature link | The client asks whether a document is good enough or what a clause means | Document request list, signature status |
| Invoices and retainer balance | Yes: line items as written, balance, payment link | A charge is disputed, a write-off is requested, or the client asks for unearned funds back | Invoice detail, trust ledger balance, billing policy |
| Update contact details or preferred channel | Yes, after verification | The change involves a different person gaining access to the matter | Contact record in your practice management system |
| "Do I have a case?" or "What should I do?" | No. Agent gives no legal advice | Always, on the first message | None. Agent routes to the intake attorney |
High-volume intake practices such as personal injury and immigration see the largest share of these questions.
What does an AI intake procedure for a law firm look like?
Start with intake: it is the busiest conversation at most consumer-facing firms and the rules already exist in your intake manual. Agent turns each plain-language step into an action on a permission you can revoke.
Example procedure: new inquiry to booked consultation
- Set expectations first. Send the firm's approved notice: chatting with us does not make you a client, and please don't share the details of your situation yet. Use the wording your managing partner signs off.
- Screen fit. Ask the practice area and the state or county. If it is outside your list, send the referral message your firm approved (for example, the state bar's lawyer referral service) and close.
- Check urgency. If the person mentions an arrest or someone in custody, papers served, a hearing or deadline within 7 days, or a safety concern, stop and hand off to the on-call intake attorney with that sentence highlighted. For danger, give the emergency number first.
- Collect conflict details only. Full name, other names used, the people or companies on the other side, and any related businesses. Nothing more. If the person starts telling the story, Agent thanks them and explains an attorney will hear it at the consultation.
- Submit and wait. Send the names to your conflicts system by webhook and tell the person the firm is running a routine check. Agent never says a conflict is clear; it waits for the system to return a result.
- Book when cleared. Offer up to three consultation slots with an attorney in that practice group, state the consultation fee from your fee policy, and send a payment link if one applies.
- If flagged, hand off. Agent books nothing and tells the person a team member will follow up. Your intake lead decides what to send.
- Spend limit. Agent may refund a consultation fee of up to $150 only when the person cancels more than 24 hours ahead. Any other refund request goes to billing.
Example conversation
Example only, not a real client.
Visitor: I got let go from my job last week and I think it's because I complained about overtime. Can I sue them?
Agent: I'm sorry that happened. I can't advise on whether you have a claim, but one of our employment attorneys can at a consultation. Chatting here doesn't make you a client, so please hold off on details for now. Which state did you work in?
Visitor: Oregon.
Agent: We handle employment matters in Oregon. Before we book, we run a routine conflict check. What is your full name, and what is the employer's legal name?
Visitor: Dana Ruiz. The company is Orrin Freight LLC.
Agent: Thanks, Dana. I've sent those names for our routine check.
The conflicts system returns clear.
Agent: The check is complete, so we can book. I can offer a 45-minute consultation on Tuesday at 10:00, Wednesday at 2:30 or Thursday at 4:00. Our consultation fee for employment matters is $100, credited to your first invoice if you hire us. Which works?
Names and fees here are invented; yours live in Knowledge.
What should an AI agent never do for a law firm?
Agent should never give legal advice, and it escalates every legal question to a person. Its job is logistics, fees and records your team has already written down. Have a partner approve these lists before launch.
Agent must never
- Say whether someone has a case, how strong it is, what it is worth or how long it will take.
- State or estimate a filing deadline or statute of limitations, even approximately.
- Tell a prospect that a conflict check has cleared, or that the firm will take the matter.
- Confirm to anyone who is not verified that a person is, or was, a client of the firm.
- Discuss a matter with a spouse, relative or employer of the client unless your records list them as authorized.
- Release, refund or move money held in trust. Trust disbursements stay with the responsible attorney and billing.
Hand off at once on
- Words that signal a deadline: served, summons, subpoena, hearing tomorrow, default, eviction date.
- Arrest, custody, a protective order or any safety concern.
- Messages that appear to come from an opposing party or opposing counsel.
- Complaints about an attorney, fee disputes, and any mention of a bar complaint or malpractice.
- Negative sentiment, press, or a request for a named attorney.
Confidentiality and data handling
Under the ABA's Model Rule 1.18, information a prospective client shares is protected even if the firm never takes the matter, and the comment to the rule advises limiting the first conversation to what you need to decide whether to take the case. That is why the procedure above collects names for conflicts and stops there. Model Rule 1.6(c) asks lawyers to make reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized access to client information, and the ABA's Formal Opinion 512 on generative AI tools covers confidentiality, supervision and client communication when firms use AI. Check your own state's version of these rules.
Aftersales offers a GDPR data processing agreement and hosts all data in the US, and Scale adds SSO, SAML and SCIM. Every connector Agent uses has explicit permissions you can revoke. Those controls support your firm's own policies; they do not make the firm compliant with its professional obligations.
Which channels should a law firm use for AI customer service?
Use Agent where people already reach the firm in writing, and keep calls in the same Inbox so intake sees the whole history.
- Website chat. Prospects often write in the evening or on weekends, when reception is closed. Agent screens fit and books the consultation before they try the next firm.
- SMS. Clients reply to hearing reminders with questions about parking, what to wear or whether to bring documents. Agent answers from your approved checklist.
- Email. Invoices, retainer balances and document requests. Agent explains a line item as billed and sends the portal link.
- WhatsApp. Useful for immigration and international practices whose clients or their families are abroad.
- Social messages. Consumer firms that advertise on Facebook or Instagram get inquiries there. Agent moves the conversation to a private channel and never discusses a matter in public comments.
- Phone. On Growth and Scale, calls share the Inbox with warm and cold transfers, recording consent and a number per office or brand.
The Census Bureau reports that more than 1 in 5 US residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home. Agent replies in 31 languages, which matters most for immigration, family and personal injury firms.
What systems does a law firm AI agent need to connect to?
Agent needs read access to matters and calendars, write access to consultation bookings, and a path to your conflicts check. Legal systems connect through the Aftersales API or webhooks; confirm specific connectors on a call.
| System | What Agent uses | How it connects |
|---|---|---|
| Your practice management system | Matter status, client-visible key dates, responsible attorney, contact details | Aftersales API or webhooks |
| Your intake or legal CRM | New leads, practice area, referral source, consultation outcome | Aftersales API or webhooks |
| Your conflicts database | Receives submitted names; returns clear or flagged | Webhook out, webhook back |
| Consultation calendars | Open slots by attorney and practice group | Aftersales API |
| Client portal, document management or e-signature | Upload and signing links, whether a document has arrived or been signed | Webhooks |
| Billing and trust accounting | Invoice lines, operating and retainer balances (read-only) | Aftersales API |
| Payments | Consultation fees and invoice payment links; capped refunds of consultation fees | Stripe, or your legal payment processor through the API |
| Slack | Side conversations with the responsible attorney or billing without leaving the thread | Slack connector |
Keep billing and trust access read-only, and mark client-visible notes in the source system so Agent repeats only what your team chose to share. Firms on Zendesk, Salesforce Service Cloud or Freshdesk can run Agent inside that tool instead.
How much does AI customer service cost for a law firm?
On the assumptions below, a small consumer-facing firm pays about $608 a month and a 40-lawyer regional firm about $2,441. Agent costs $0.99 per resolved conversation, and conversations it hands off cost nothing.
| Line item | Small firm (Growth) | Regional firm (Scale) |
|---|---|---|
| Full seats for intake and client service staff | 3 seats × $69: $207 | 8 seats × $109: $872 |
| Written conversations per month | 900 | 3,000 |
| Resolved by Agent (assumed 45%) at $0.99 | 405: $400.95 | 1,350: $1,336.50 |
| Copilot ($29 per rep/month, annual) | Not added | 8 reps: $232 |
| Lite seats for attorneys and paralegals who review and approve | Free (up to 20) | Free (up to 50) |
| Monthly total | About $608 | About $2,441 |
| Cost per written conversation | About $0.68 | About $0.81 |
Example only, using Aftersales list prices checked October 2026, billed annually. Monthly billing adds 20% to seat and Copilot prices.
We assumed 45%, well below Aftersales' 71% median after 90 days, because every legal question and every flagged conflict is handed to a person. The regional firm uses Scale for SSO. See all plans on the pricing page.
How do you roll out an AI agent at a law firm in 30 days?
Launch on one practice group's intake, read every transcript for the first two weeks, and add current-client questions only after the handoff rules hold up.
- Days 1-5. A partner approves the first-message notice, the never-do list and the deadline keywords. Connect the practice management system read-only and load fee policies, office details and practice areas.
- Days 6-12. Turn on website chat for one practice group. Agent screens fit, collects conflict names and books consultations. The intake lead reviews every conversation daily.
- Days 13-19. Connect the conflicts webhook and consultation payments. Test a flagged conflict end to end before going live.
- Days 20-25. Add current clients: hearing logistics, document links and invoice questions by SMS and email. Status replies use only notes marked client-visible.
- Days 26-30. Review resolution rate, handoff reasons and any message an attorney would have phrased differently. Then extend to the next practice group.
Measure progress with the method in our resolution rate guide. Other sectors are on the AI customer service hub and the industries page.
Run it on last month's inquiries. Start a 14-day free trial and see which intake and billing questions Agent closes inside your rules.