Law firm call answering script: a template that works

A good law firm call handling script has seven parts: a greeting that names the firm and who is speaking, the caller's reason in their own words, contact details read back, two or three qualifying questions per practice area, a polite refusal to give advice, an honest next step, and a written message a fee-earner can act on without calling back to ask basics.

This page gives you each part with wording you can adapt. It works whether your calls are answered by an in-house receptionist, a human answering service or software, because the script is the firm's, not the provider's. The biggest single improvement most firms can make to their call answering is not a new supplier but a better script. For the choice of who answers, see our pillar guide to law firm answering services in the UK.

What should a law firm call answering script include?

• 1. Greeting. Firm name, who is speaking, and for software, that it is AI.
• 2. Reason for calling. An open question, then listen.
• 3. Details. Name, number read back, best time to call.
• 4. New or existing. So an existing client is not treated as a stranger.
• 5. Qualifying questions. Two or three per practice area, set by the firm.
• 6. The advice line. A friendly form of words for questions only a solicitor can answer.
• 7. Next step. What happens now, with a timescale the firm will actually keep.
• 8. The message. A fixed format so the fee-earner can act on it straight away.

How should a law firm answer the phone?

Short, warm and specific. For an in-house or answering-service receptionist:

Good morning, Harbour Lane Solicitors, this is Sam speaking. How can I help?

For software:

Hello, you've reached Harbour Lane Solicitors. I'm the firm's AI assistant. I can take your details and arrange for the right person to call you back. What's your call about?

Harbour Lane is a made-up name for illustration. The AI greeting says what it is in the first breath. A caller who realises halfway through that they have been speaking to software feels misled, and the SRA Code of Conduct requires clients to be given information in a way they can understand. Outside office hours, add that the office is closed and when someone will be in touch. If calls are recorded, say so at the start; see the section on recording below.

How do you find out why someone is calling?

Ask openly and let them talk: "Can you tell me a bit about what's happened?" Many callers to a law firm have been rehearsing this, and interrupting them to fill in a form makes them feel unheard. Listen for four things while they speak: the type of problem, any date they mention, whether someone is at risk, and whether they are already a client. Note dates exactly as the caller states them, without interpreting them.

What details should you take?

• Full name, and the spelling if unusual.
• A phone number, read back digit by digit.
• Email address if they prefer it, read back.
• The best time to call back, and whether it is safe to leave a message on that number. This matters in family and domestic abuse matters.
• How they heard of the firm.
• Whether they have spoken to the firm before, and if so, who about.

What qualifying questions should a law firm ask?

Two or three per practice area, no more on a first call. The purpose is to let the fee-earner decide how to respond, not to run a consultation. Examples to adapt, with your COLP and fee-earners deciding the final wording:

• Employment: Are you still working there? What is the date of the event you are calling about? Do you have any letters about it?
• Family: Is this about separation, children, or finances? Is there a court date already? Is everyone safe at the moment?
• Immigration: What type of application or decision is this about? Is there a date on the letter?
• Residential property: Are you buying, selling or both? Has an offer been accepted?
• Wills and probate: Is this about making a will, or dealing with someone's estate? If an estate, has a grant been applied for?
• Crime: Has anyone been arrested or asked to attend a police station? When?

Our intake cluster goes deeper on this, including family law intake questions and the wider law firm client intake process.

How do you avoid giving legal advice on the phone?

Callers will ask: do I have a case, is this legal, have I missed the deadline, how much will I get. Whoever answers must decline without sounding evasive. Wording that works:

That's exactly the kind of question the solicitor will want to answer properly, and I don't want to guess. Let me take the details so they can look at it before they call you.

And for deadlines, where the stakes are highest:

I can't tell you whether a deadline applies, but I'll mark your call as time-sensitive and note the date on your letter so the solicitor sees it first.

Write a short list of topics that are never discussed at the front door: prospects, whether something is lawful, what a court will decide, and fees beyond what the firm publishes. The SRA's transparency rules require firms offering certain services to publish price information, so pointing callers to the published page is fine; quoting a figure for their case is not.

Capturing the date on the letter is administration. Saying whether the deadline has passed is advice.

What do you say to a distressed or at-risk caller?

Every firm gets these calls, particularly in family, crime, immigration and housing work. The script should say plainly what to do. If anyone is in immediate danger, the first step is emergency services, and the person answering should say so clearly. Beyond that, the firm's own procedure applies: who is contacted, how quickly, and what the caller is told. Agree it with your COLP, write it down, and make sure any outside service or software follows the same rule.

How do you end a call at a law firm?

Tell the caller exactly what happens next, and make it something the firm will keep:

Thank you. I've passed your details to our employment team. Someone will call you on the number you gave me, by the end of tomorrow. If anything changes before then, you can call us back on this number.

Avoid "within the hour" unless somebody is genuinely watching for it. A promise the firm breaks is worse than a modest one it keeps. After hours, name the day, not "soon". We cover the evening version in after-hours answering for law firms.

What should a phone message for a solicitor look like?

Use one format for every new enquiry, whoever takes it:

• Caller: name, number (read back), email, best time, safe to leave a message: yes or no.
• New or existing: and if existing, which matter or fee-earner.
• Area: the firm's own practice-area category.
• Summary: two or three sentences in the caller's terms.
• Dates: any date mentioned, exactly as stated.
• Answers: each qualifying question with its answer.
• Flags: time-sensitive, distressed, or declined advice question (and what was asked).
• Promised: what the caller was told would happen, and by when.
• Owner: the named person this goes to.

The "Promised" line is the one most firms leave out, and it is the one that prevents the call back contradicting the first call.

What about existing clients calling for updates?

A different, shorter script: confirm who they are, which matter, and whether the fee-earner is available. If not, take a specific message ("wants to know whether the other side has replied to the letter of 2 September") rather than "please call". Do not discuss the matter unless the firm's procedure allows it, and do not confirm to an unknown caller that someone is a client.

Should the script mention call recording?

If the firm records calls, the caller should be told at the start. The ICO's guidance on the right to be informed says privacy information must be given at the time data is collected. A short line works: "Calls are recorded for quality and record-keeping. Our privacy notice is on our website." Your DPO or COLP should confirm the wording. We set out the published guidance in should law firms record client calls.

How do you keep the script working?

Review it monthly for the first quarter. Read ten messages at random: could the fee-earner act on each without calling back to ask basics? Listen to a sample of calls if they are recorded. Add the questions callers kept asking that the script did not cover. Remove any qualifying question nobody used. The receptionist's view of this is in legal receptionist duties.

One more habit is worth building in: when a fee-earner makes the call back, ask them to note in one line whether the message gave them what they needed. After a month, those notes tell you which questions to add and which to drop, from the people who rely on the script most.

Where does WasilX fit?

Cam, our AI Engagement Coordinator, takes calls on the firm's line at any hour, says it is AI, asks the firm's own qualifying questions, books the call back and sends the firm a summary. The script is yours; Cam asks it. If you would like to see how your script would run, we are happy to go through it with you.

Frequently asked questions

How should a law firm receptionist answer the phone? Name the firm and who is speaking, and ask how you can help. If software is answering, it should say it is the firm's AI assistant in the greeting. Outside office hours, say the office is closed and when someone will be in touch.

What questions should a law firm ask a new caller? Take their name, a number read back, the best time to call, and whether they are new or existing. Then ask two or three qualifying questions set by the firm for that practice area, such as the date of any letter or hearing.

How can a receptionist avoid giving legal advice? Use a friendly form of words such as: that is exactly the question the solicitor will want to answer properly, so let me take the details. Keep a written list of topics never discussed at the front door, such as prospects and deadlines.

What should a phone message to a solicitor include? Caller details, new or existing, practice area, a short summary, any dates as stated, the answers to qualifying questions, any flags, what the caller was promised and by when, and the named owner.

Should a law firm tell callers that calls are recorded? If calls are recorded, callers should be told at the start. ICO guidance says people must be informed at the time their data is collected. Ask your DPO or COLP to confirm the wording.