You were in court when the new client called.
You know which calls you're losing. A new client rings at 1:40 while you're on the afternoon docket, gets voicemail, and dials the next name on the list. You've seen it on your own call log, and there's a study that says the same thing. In 2024 Clio had secret shoppers call 500 US law firms (opens another site). 40% answered the phone, and 48% neither answered nor called back. Clio sells law firm software, so take the number for what it is and check it against your own log.
The second number comes from Tennessee. In the Board of Professional Responsibility's year ending June 2025 (opens another site), neglect and failure to communicate were half of the 3,959 complaints it took in. My guess is a lot of those started the same way as the lost client: somebody called, and nothing came back.
What I set up runs inside what a firm already pays for: Clio or MyCase, Lawmatics, LawPay, and whatever you sign with. The call that rings out gets a text back within the minute, as you. The client's own answers become a one-page intake, and the other party's name is run against your contacts before you read it. The consult comes off your calendar. After it, your engagement letter goes out from your own template with the terms you set and the retainer link in it, and the matter opens in your case software when it's signed. You read one page, set the terms, and approve one letter.
I've spent 20 years in IT infrastructure, and this is the same work: connecting systems you already own so the handoffs stop depending on who's at the front desk at 1:40.
What I'd set up
Plain automation texts back the call that rang out, runs the conflict check, books the consult from your calendar, fills your engagement letter with your terms, sends it for signature with the retainer link, and opens the matter when it's signed. AI does two things: it answers the client's texts as the firm, and it turns her own answers into one page for you. All of it lives in Clio or MyCase, Lawmatics, LawPay and your e-sign tool.
The rules it follows
- It answers only people who contacted the firm first.
- It never says anyone has a case, never quotes a fee, never gives advice. Asked if it's automated, it says so.
- The other party's name is checked against your contacts before you read a word of the intake.
- Every term in the engagement letter is yours, and it goes out only when you approve it.
- Every message offers a person, and every message is kept on the file.
The consult, the terms, the advice and your signature stay with you.
Working demo
One call while you're in court, to a signed engagement letter.
Put your firm's name in, then follow one new client from the call that rang out to the matter opening in your case software. You're in court all afternoon.
The firm, the client and the matter are made up. The AI's words were written in advance and play back in your browser. Nothing you type leaves this page.
It signs every text here, and never leaves this page.
Who does what
- Automation
- Rules you set, run the same way every time. No AI.
- AI
- Reads what Rachel writes, answers her, and writes her one-page summary. Never a word on her case.
- You
- In court, then in the consult. You set the terms and approve the letter.
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Tuesday
Afternoon docket in Gallatin. Your phone is on silent in your bag.
The call rings out, and a text goes back
A new number calls and nobody can pick up. Plain automation texts back within the minute, as you. The AI reads what Rachel says and answers it.
- Station Camp Family LawHi, this is Station Camp Family Law. Sorry I missed your call, I'm in court this afternoon. Tell me a little about what's going on and I'll get back to you today. If it's easier, the short form at this link asks what I'd ask, about five minutes.
- Rachelhi its rachel in portland. my husband and i separated in august and he had papers sent to me last week. we have 2 kids. i dont know what im supposed to do
- Station Camp Family LawRachel, got it. Separated in August, papers last week, two kids. Fill in the form when you have a minute and I'll read it before I call you. If you'd rather talk to someone today, reply CALL and someone at Station Camp Family Law will phone you this afternoon.
- Rachelok doing the form now
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Tuesday
Still in court. Rachel's form comes in from her phone.
Rachel's answers, on one page
The AI turns her answers into one page in her own words, pulls out the dates and names, and flags what's missing and what you should look at first. It makes no call on her case, and the page waits for the conflict check before it goes to you.
Intake: Rachel Hollis, Portland
Submitted Tuesday 1:58 PM, from her own answers
- What's going on
- Married nine years. She and Derek separated in August, and he's staying with his brother. Last week she was handed papers from his lawyer and hasn't answered them. She wants to keep the house and keep the kids in their school.
- Dates
- Married June 2017. Separated August 2026. Papers delivered last week; she didn't write down the day.
- Other party
- Derek Hollis, Portland. Has a lawyer; she doesn't remember the name.
- Children
- Two. A son, 7, and a daughter, 4. Both living with her in the house.
- She's asking for
- To keep the house and the kids' school, and to know what to do about the papers.
Checked before you read it
- No date and no court on the papers she was handed. Flagged for you to look at first.
- Missing: the day Derek moved out, and the name of his lawyer. On the list to ask at the consult.
- Phone, email, address and date of birth are all in.
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Tuesday
Same minute, in your case software.
The other party, checked against your contacts
By rule, both names on her form are run against every client, opposing party and contact in your case software before her page goes to you. No AI, and nothing goes to Rachel until it's clear.
Conflict check: Hollis
Run in your case software, open and closed matters
- Searched for
- Derek Hollis. Rachel Hollis.
- Checked against
- Every client, opposing party and contact on file at Station Camp Family Law, open and closed.
- Result
- No match on either name.
- Logged
- On her file, with the time it ran.
Status
- Clear. Her page goes to your phone for the break.
- A match would have stopped here and gone to you, with nothing sent to Rachel.
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Tuesday
Still in court. Your calendar does the booking.
A consult, from your real calendar
Plain automation offers two open consult slots from your calendar and books the one she picks. The AI reads her question and answers it. A person is on offer in every text.
- Station Camp Family LawThanks Rachel, your form came through. I'm in court the rest of today, but I can sit down with you Wednesday 10-11 or Thursday 2-3 at the Station Camp Family Law office. Do either of those work? If you'd rather talk to someone today, reply CALL.
- Rachelwednesday at 10 works. do i need to bring anything
- Station Camp Family LawWednesday at 10 it is. Bring the papers you were handed and anything else with dates on it, if you have it. I'll text you a reminder Tuesday night. Anything before then, this number reaches Station Camp Family Law.
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Thursday
Thursday morning, before your first appointment.
Your letter, your terms, signed and paid
After Wednesday's consult you set the terms and tap approve. Plain automation fills your engagement letter template with them, sends it for e-signature with the retainer link in the same message, and reminds her once. It can't change a term.
Engagement letter: Rachel Hollis
Your template, your terms
- Template
- The Station Camp Family Law family law engagement letter, current version.
- Terms
- Set by you after the consult. Filled in by rule, no AI.
- Sent
- Wednesday 11:25 AM, for e-signature, with the retainer link in the same message.
- Reminder
- Thursday 8:00 AM, since it was still unsigned.
- Signed
- Thursday 8:40 AM. Retainer paid at the link, into trust.
Status
- Signed by Rachel. Her copy and the receipt went to her.
- Retainer received in trust.
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Thursday
A minute later, in your case software.
The matter opens itself
The signature is the trigger. Plain automation opens the matter in your case software, builds her client record from her form, attaches what's already on file, and sends her the portal invite. Nothing gets typed twice.
Matter opened: Hollis, Rachel
In your case software, from the signed letter
- Client record
- Rachel's name, phone, email and address, from her form.
- Attached
- Her intake page, the conflict check and the signed engagement letter.
- First task
- The papers she was handed, on your list for today.
- Portal
- Invite sent to Rachel, with her signed letter in it.
- Trust
- The retainer posted to her matter.
Status
- Every field came from her form, your terms or the signature.
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Thursday
Your phone buzzes once.
One text to you
One text, so you know where it stands before your first appointment.
Text to you
Rachel Hollis signed at 8:40 and the retainer's in trust. Matter's open, her intake and the conflict check are on it, portal invite sent. The papers she was handed are first on your list today.
What a call that rings out costs you
Put in your average new matter and how many new clients a week you lose to a call nobody got back to, and the figures change with them.
The starting figure is an example on the low side. Change it to yours.
Count last week's calls from new numbers that nobody got back to the same day.
What you're losing
- A week
- $1,500
- A month
- $6,500
- A year
- $78,000
Rough math: the week times 52 for the year, divided by 12 for the month. In Clio's 2024 secret-shopper study of 500 firms, 48% neither answered the phone nor called back.
How you'd set this up yourself
Five steps, most of them settings in software you already have.
Turn on the text-back you already pay for
Your phone system or Clio Grow can text a missed call within a minute. Write the text yourself, in first person. Make sure a reply reaches a person: Clio Grow's texts are no-reply (opens another site), so pair it with two-way texting in Clio Manage or your phone system.
Make the form ask what you'd ask
The other party's full name on the first page, then dates, kids and what they want, in their own words. Five minutes on a phone, and the answers land in Lawmatics or Clio Grow as a lead.
Run the conflict check before you read the rest
A rule in your case software: search every contact for the names on page one, log the result on the file, and stop there on a match. Only a clear check sends the intake to you.
Book from your own calendar
A scheduling link tied to your consult slots, in the text that follows the form, with one reply word that gets the caller a person the same day.
Let the signed letter open the matter
Your e-sign tool can send your engagement template with a LawPay link in it. When it's signed, a rule in Clio or MyCase opens the matter, attaches the intake and sends the portal invite. You still read and approve every letter.
If you'd rather not build this, I'll set it up in Clio or MyCase, Lawmatics, LawPay and the e-sign tool you already use. You approve every engagement letter before it goes.
