Tools to help you capture every lead

Gone are the days of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. law firm receptionists chained to their desks, limited to answering phones and taking messages.

Modern consumers in search of legal guidance expect more, including 24/7, responsive service and immediate answers to their questions. Office hours have become an obsolete concept, with potential clients often seeking to research firms and retain legal services at their convenience and from the comfort and privacy of their homes.

As technology advances, lawyers have more lead management options available, including virtual receptionist services, online intake forms or generative artificial intelligence-powered chatbots designed to meet consumers where they are and adeptly address their concerns. Firms that rely on these tools, rather than on staff employees alone, are far better positioned to thrive in today’s highly competitive legal marketplace.

The good news is that reception and intake are some of the easiest firm functions to offload. In-house staff can’t answer calls around the clock, but virtual receptionists and chatbots can, offering prospective clients the flexibility and convenience of full-time after-hours coverage. By outsourcing call handling and intake processes, you can increase your firm’s availability to new and existing clients while reducing administrative burdens and costs.

Choosing the right tools for your firm

There’s no shortage of virtual receptionists and intake tools for firms. The right fit will depend on your firm’s priorities, including cost, features and whether you want a legal-specific provider. Some companies focus exclusively on firms; others serve a broader market. However, don’t automatically discount the generalists.

Depending on your firm’s needs, they may very well check many of the boxes at a much more appealing price.

Before choosing a service, it’s essential to understand that outsourcing requires sharing your firm’s data with third parties, which in turn triggers certain ethical duties. These include the obligation to preserve confidentiality by vetting how and when your firm’s information will be accessed, used and stored by the provider.

With that in mind, let’s review some of the more widely used, stand-alone virtual receptionist services and client intake tools for firms. Information about pricing will be provided unless it’s not listed online.

Virtual legal intake and receptionist options

LexReception offers virtual receptionist services tailored for firms. They include handling calls, client intake, appointment scheduling and payment collection. LexReception differentiates itself by focusing on the legal industry, offering 24/7, bilingual availability and integrating with a wide range of legal practice management and payment processing tools.

Smith.ai combines live virtual receptionists with generative AI to manage calls, web chats, texts and Facebook messages while also handling lead qualification and customer relationship management integration. It also offers chatbots powered by generative AI to respond to online, social media and text messages. The standout feature is an “AI-first” receptionist, which streamlines intake workflows, provides multilingual support and transfers to human virtual receptionists when needed for follow-up. Pricing for each offering is available on the website.

LawDroid offers AI-powered legal automation tools that handle tasks, such as virtual intake, document drafting and client communication. LawDroid stands out for its early adoption of generative AI to support LawDroid Copilot, a legal assistant. The company’s forward-thinking approach makes it especially relevant for solo and small firms operating virtually. You can find pricing details on the website for various tools.

Ruby provides live virtual receptionists and chat services for small businesses, including firms, with an emphasis on friendly, human-first client interactions. The company consistently receives high marks for customer service quality and has strong brand recognition in solo and small firm markets. It integrates with some legal tech tools, and the website offers pricing information, including bundled options for live web chat and virtual receptionist services.

Back Office Betties delivers virtual receptionist and legal intake services staffed by receptionists trained exclusively in legal terminology and workflows. A number of integrations with legal products are available. The company’s flat-rate pricing stands out and is listed on the website.

Answering Legal is a 24/7 live answering service built specifically for lawyers. It offers features, such as call forwarding, new client intake and bilingual support. What sets it apart is the ability to customize call protocols and live call transfer capabilities that allow qualified leads to be quickly patched through to the firm.

Intaker offers AI-powered website chat tools designed to capture and qualify leads for firms through customizable, conversation-based interfaces. It integrates with many popular customer relationship management systems and legal software platforms. Its visually engaging, video-enabled chat experience, along with its focus on lead conversion, are notable.

The bottom line

Firms that take advantage of virtual receptionists and intake tools are simply more responsive and efficient. By ensuring that calls are promptly answered, leads are captured, and clients receive immediate attention—day or night.

Modern intake tools, whether AI-powered, human-staffed or a mix of both, reduce overhead and free up time for more analytical and nuanced legal work. This benefit can be particularly impactful for solo and small firms, enabling them to better compete with larger practices by offering scalable, professional client service without the cost of full-time staff.

Outsourcing reception and intake is one of the easiest and most impactful ways to improve the client experience and streamline operations. With so many options available, there’s a solution to fit nearly any budget or workflow. Invest in these tools now, and your firm will be better positioned to thrive and grow.

Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York-based attorney, author and journalist, and she is the principal legal insight strategist at MyCase, a company that offers legal practice management software for small firms. She is the nationally recognized author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers and is co-author of Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier, both published by the American Bar Association. She writes regular columns for ABAJournal.com and Above the Law, has authored hundreds of articles for other publications, and regularly speaks at conferences regarding the intersection of law and emerging technologies. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @nikiblack, or she can be reached at [email protected].

This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.