Process design
Client intake process flow chart for law firms.
A reliable client intake process makes the next action obvious. Every state has an owner, every exception has a route, and every decision leaves a record. The lead keeps its documents and history if the firm opens the matter.
One owner for each state
A waiting item should show who acts next and when it is late.
Visible review gates
Collection can move quickly while engagement and legal judgment stay controlled.
No conversion reset
An approved lead becomes a matter with its working record intact.
I · The flow
Use this sequence as a working baseline.
New inquiry. Identity and consent. Conflict workflow. Case-type questions. Document request. Evidence review. Follow-up. Authorized disposition. Matter creation for approved leads.
1. Create the lead
Start one record from the form, call, email, import, referral, or portal.
2. Apply initial controls
Capture consent, preserve the source, and begin the firm's conflict process.
3. Ask case-type questions
Collect the answers and records that matter to this proposed claim.
4. Review the evidence
Process documents and route gaps, conflicts, or low-confidence values to staff.
5. Follow up
Assign missing records, clarifications, interviews, and internal review.
6. Record the disposition
Authorized staff engage, decline, refer, or hold and start the matching workflow.
7. Open the matter
Carry the approved record into case phases, tasks, documents, and client work.
II · Exceptions
Draw the failure paths before launch.
Duplicate leads, missing consent, possible conflicts, unsupported matters, incomplete records, unresponsive prospects, uncertain extraction, changed answers, and declines all need a route.
Give each exception an owner, due date, allowed transition, and audit trail. Otherwise the side channels become the real system.
Talk through your intake pathIII · Measurement
Put a timer on every handoff.
Measure time in state, overdue work, missing-document age, staff touches, correction rate, conversion by source and case type, and time from inquiry to a reviewable record.
IV · Rollout
Configure one case type first.
The state machine can stay consistent across the firm. Questions, expected records, deadlines, extracted facts, and legal review rules should change with the case type.
Before you book
Questions worth settling first.
01What are the steps in the client intake process?
Capture, initial controls, case-type questions, evidence collection, evidence review, follow-up, authorized disposition, and matter creation.
02Where should conflict checks happen?
The firm sets the timing and authorized process. The workflow should start the control early and block any prohibited advancement.
03Should every lead become a case?
No. A useful workflow supports engage, decline, refer, and hold outcomes with the right access controls and follow-up.
04When should the firm review its intake process?
Review it after changes to case types, staffing, qualification rules, systems, or regulations. Queue and correction data will show where to look first.
Related reading
Keep working through the intake problem.
Keep reading
The legal intake library.
Pick the question on your desk. The library covers workflow design, staffing, software, recorded calls, and mass-tort volume.
Product and operations descriptions are reviewed by Tim Ottowitz, Founder and CEO, OBE. This byline does not provide jurisdiction-specific counsel review. ArbitrationIntel and OBE provide software and operations information. Attorneys and authorized firm staff remain responsible for conflicts, engagement, qualification, legal judgment, filing, and client advice. The signed agreement sets product terms and operating limits.
Bring one case type
See where the file slows down.
Bring the questions, records, decisions, and handoffs your team uses today. We will map the intake path, find the repair work, and show how OBE keeps the source record under firm control.
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