Client intake process flow chart for law firms

A law firm client intake process flow chart maps each step from first contact to an open file, with a decision point wherever the enquiry can stop: not answered, out of scope, conflicted, not ready, no terms signed. For each box, write who owns it and the time limit. The exits matter more than the main path, because that is where enquiries are lost unseen.

Below is a flow chart for a typical UK firm, written out step by step so you can redraw it in whatever tool your firm uses. Each step lists its owner, its time limit, and what happens on each branch. The times are suggestions to adapt, not standards. For the reasoning behind each stage, see our full guide to the law firm client intake process.

Why draw the intake process as a flow chart?

Because a written procedure hides the gaps and a diagram shows them. When a firm writes "reception takes the details and passes them to the relevant team", it reads as complete. When the same sentence is drawn as boxes and arrows, somebody asks: what if the team does not pick it up? What if the caller rang at 7pm? What if the details are incomplete? Every unanswered question is a place an enquiry can disappear.

The second reason is agreement. A flow chart is short enough for every partner to read and argue about. The argument is the point. It forces decisions the firm has been avoiding, like who owns an enquiry nobody has claimed after a day.

What does a law firm intake flow chart look like?

Here is the whole chart as a numbered sequence. Boxes are steps; questions are decision points; each "no" branch is an exit that needs its own handling.

• 1. Enquiry arrives (phone, web form, email, chat, referral).
• 2. Is it answered or acknowledged within the standard? Yes: go to 3. No: exit A, missed enquiry.
• 3. Capture first-contact details on the single intake record.
• 4. Is it work the firm does? Yes: go to 5. No: exit B, refer out.
• 5. Quick conflict search on names captured. Clear: go to 6. Possible match: hold, go to 5a.
• 5a. Conflict reviewed by the named person. Cleared: go to 6. Not cleared: exit C, decline.
• 6. Route to the right team with a summary.
• 7. Fee-earner calls back within the standard. Reached: go to 8. Not reached after the set attempts: exit D, lost contact.
• 8. Is the client ready and able to instruct? Yes: go to 9. No: exit E, nurture or close.
• 9. Full conflict check and identity checks under the firm's policy.
• 10. Terms, scope and cost information sent.
• 11. Terms accepted within the follow-up window? Yes: go to 12. No: exit F, chased and closed.
• 12. File opened, fee-earner named, client told what happens next.

Twelve steps, six exits. On paper each exit looks like a small leak. In practice they compound.

Who owns each step in the intake flow?

Write a name, or at least a role, against every box. A suggested allocation for a small or mid-sized firm:

• Steps 1 to 3: reception, the intake team, or whatever picks up the phone out of hours.
• Step 4: the same person, using a written list of work the firm does and does not do.
• Steps 5 and 5a: whoever runs conflict searches, with possible matches going to a named partner or the COLP under the firm's procedure.
• Step 6: the intake owner.
• Steps 7 and 8: the fee-earner.
• Steps 9 and 10: the fee-earner, supported by whoever handles identity checks and letters.
• Step 11: the fee-earner's secretary or assistant, or the intake owner.
• Step 12: the fee-earner.

The most important box is not on the list. Somebody must own the whole flow and look at it weekly. Without that person, every exit is somebody else's problem.

What time limits should each step have?

Set them from your own data, then tighten them. As a starting point to adapt:

• Step 2: calls answered live; written enquiries acknowledged the same working day.
• Step 5: quick conflict search the same working day.
• Step 7: fee-earner call back within one working day of routing.
• Step 10: terms sent within two working days of the client agreeing to instruct.
• Step 11: a follow-up if terms are not returned within a few working days, and a decision to close after a set period.

The US secret-shopper evidence explains why step 2 gets the tightest standard. In the Clio Legal Trends Report 2024, only 40 per cent of firms answered a prospective client's call and only 33 per cent replied to an email. Our post on law firm lead response time goes into what a realistic standard looks like for a UK firm.

What happens at each exit?

This is the part most flow charts leave out.

Exit A: missed enquiry. A call rang out, or a web form sat in an inbox. Some of these callers will leave a voicemail and some will not. The handling: a daily check of missed calls and unanswered forms, and a call back to every one with a number. The fix: cover the phone, including out of hours.

Exit B: refer out. Work the firm does not do. The handling: a short list of firms or services you refer to, and a record that you did. It costs a minute and keeps the caller's goodwill.

Exit C: conflict. The firm cannot act. The handling: a short, neutral decline that does not reveal why, following your COLP's wording. The SRA's guidance on conflicts of interest says it is better to avoid a conflict arising by declining at the outset than to have one arise during a retainer, which is why this exit sits before any detailed conversation.

Exit D: lost contact. The fee-earner tried and could not reach the person. The handling: a set number of attempts across different times of day, a text or email after the first missed call, and a final message saying how to get back in touch.

Exit E: not ready. The person is gathering information, or cannot afford the work now. The handling: a clear note of what they asked and when they might be ready, and permission-based follow-up.

Exit F: terms not returned. The client said yes and then went quiet. The handling: a follow-up call from the fee-earner, not an automated reminder, because the reason is often a question about the terms they did not want to put in writing.

A worked example: counting what falls out

Here is a hypothetical month, with invented figures, to show how the exits compound.

A firm receives 300 enquiries. At exit A it loses 60 (unanswered, no message left). At exit B it refers out 40. At exit C it declines 5. At exit D it cannot reach 25. At exit E, 50 are not ready. At exit F, 20 do not return terms. That leaves 100 instructions, a conversion rate of a third.

Now look at which exits the firm controls. B and C are correct outcomes. E is partly outside the firm's control. But A, D and F (105 enquiries in this example) are almost entirely about the firm's own speed and follow-up. Halving those three alone would, in this invented example, put around fifty more enquiries a month back in front of a fee-earner, without a penny of extra marketing. Not all of them would instruct, but none of them had the chance before.

Our post on what missed enquiries cost a law firm sets out how to put a value on exit A using your own figures.

How do you draw it for a specific practice area?

Keep the twelve-step skeleton and add the decision points that are specific to the work. For example:

• Family: a safety question early in the flow, with its own route if the caller may be at risk. See our list of family law intake questions.
• Conveyancing: a quote step between 4 and 7, since many buyers compare prices first.
• Litigation: a limitation or hearing-date question at step 3 that can move the enquiry to the front of the queue.
• Immigration: an expiry-date check at step 3, for the same reason.

Resist adding more than two or three extra boxes. A flow chart that needs a legend has stopped being useful.

Where do most intake flow charts go wrong?

• They only show the happy path. No exits means no owners for the exits.
• They show departments, not people. "Litigation team" cannot be asked why an enquiry sat for three days. A named person can.
• They have no clock. Without time limits, "call back" can mean tomorrow or next week.
• They are drawn once. The chart should be checked against real enquiries every quarter. If the real path differs from the drawn one, fix the practice or fix the chart.
• They stop at "file opened". Step 12 includes telling the client what happens next. That step is where the client's first impression of the matter, not the enquiry, begins.

How do you turn the chart into something people use?

Three steps. First, print it on one page and put it where the people who answer the phone can see it. Second, build the same steps into whatever system records enquiries, so each exit is a status someone has to choose, not a blank. Third, count each exit every month. Our guide to client intake software for law firms covers systems that record each status, and law firm intake automation covers which of the twelve steps can safely run without a person.

Where WasilX fits

Exit A is usually the largest and the least visible, because a call nobody answered leaves almost no trace. Cam, our AI Engagement Coordinator, covers steps 1 to 3 on the firm's line at any hour: it takes the call, says it is AI, asks the firm's own qualifying questions, books the call back and sends the firm a summary. The decisions from step 4 onwards stay with the firm's people. If you would like to map your own flow with us, start a conversation.

Frequently asked questions

What are the steps in a law firm client intake process flow chart? A typical chart runs: enquiry arrives, answered, details captured, scope check, quick conflict search, routed to a team, fee-earner call back, readiness check, full conflict and identity checks, terms sent, terms accepted, file opened. Each decision point has an exit that needs an owner.

What is the most important part of an intake flow chart? The exits. Most charts show the happy path only, so nobody owns the enquiries that fall out at each decision point.

How detailed should the flow chart be? One page. Around a dozen steps with named owners and time limits is usually enough. Add only the two or three decision points specific to each practice area.

Where should the conflict check sit in the flow? Early, before any detailed discussion of the matter, and again in full before terms are sent. How the check is run is for your firm's own procedure and your COLP.

How often should the intake flow chart be reviewed? Quarterly, against real enquiries. If the path enquiries actually take differs from the drawn one, change the practice or change the chart.