Three facts, before anything else. Who, who else, and when.
An intake line that takes a name and a number has taken the two least useful things on the call. The firm needs the other party's name before it can run its conflicts check, and it needs the date the thing happened because that is where every limitation period starts counting. Phone messages lose both.
Hear it before you read another word. Dial (314) 784-8835. It answers for several trades, and it does not assume yours — say “I run a law firm” and it will take the call the way your front desk would, including a conflicts check. Or tell it what a typical call sounds like for you and let it answer that.
The call you are not there for.
A man calls at ten past six. He was arrested this afternoon, he is out now, and he does not know whether that means he has been charged. He has called four firms. Three went to voicemail. The one that answered took his name, the arresting agency, whether anyone has questioned him, and whether a date is already set — and by morning a lawyer there knew more about his matter than you know about his existence.
Three calls a law firm gets, and what happens to them.
What it gets out of the caller.
- 01
The caller's full name and the other party's full name, together, so the firm can run its conflicts check before a lawyer spends an hour on the matter
- 02
The date the thing happened — the crash, the arrest, the dismissal, the signature. Every limitation period counts from a date, and the message is where that date usually goes missing
- 03
Whether anyone is unsafe right now, asked first on anything touching a family matter, because that answer changes what happens tonight
- 04
On a criminal matter: which agency is holding or released them, whether they have been questioned, and whether a court date exists. That is the one that will not wait for Monday
- 05
Which practice area this belongs to in their own words, so a PI enquiry does not sit in the same pile as an estate question over the weekend
Why a general answering service loses this call.
- 01
It takes a name and a number and calls that intake.
The name is the easy half. Without the other party's name the firm cannot start its conflicts check, and without the date nobody can tell how urgent this is. A message reading “car accident, wants to discuss” costs a callback to find out what could have been asked while the caller was already on the phone.
- 02
It answers the question it should refuse.
“Do I have a case?” and “is it too late?” are the two questions every caller asks, and a script built to be reassuring answers them. Said in your firm's name, on a recorded line, by something with no idea what it is talking about. This one says a lawyer will tell you and that it would get it wrong.
- 03
It works out the deadline.
Limitation periods differ by claim and jurisdiction, many run from when something was discovered rather than when it happened, and a claim against a public body usually carries a much shorter separate notice period. Anything that does that arithmetic on your line is a problem with your name on it. This takes the date and stops.
- 04
It treats every matter the same.
Somebody in custody with a hearing on Thursday and somebody updating a will are not the same call, and an intake line that cannot tell them apart queues them together. Criminal is where hours matter; personal injury is where the detail matters; family is where safety is asked first.
What it costs.
One monthly fee. No per-minute billing, so a storm week does not arrive as a surprise invoice, and no per-call charge, so you are never choosing between answering the phone and the bill. The full numbers are on the pricing page rather than behind a sales call.
Questions law firms ask.
Does it run our conflicts check?
No, and it will not say the firm is clear to act. What it does is take both full names — the caller's and the other party's — and flag them so a person runs the check before anyone calls back. It does not refuse to hear what happened while it does that, because there is no rule requiring it to; the restriction is on what the firm may use and whether it may act, not on whether a caller may speak.
Will it give legal advice?
No. It does not say whether someone has a case, what a claim is worth, or whether time has run out, and it says plainly that a lawyer will tell them and that it would get it wrong. That refusal is the point of the line, not a limitation of it.
Is what a caller says on the intake line confidential?
Be careful how this is explained to callers, and we are careful too. Information someone gives while seeking representation carries duties to a prospective client even where the firm never takes the matter, so it is wrong to tell a caller that nothing said here is protected. What the assistant does say, if asked, is that it is the intake line rather than their lawyer, that the call is recorded, and that the firm will explain where they stand.
What gets somebody through to an attorney at night?
Custody, a court date within the next two business days, an immediate safety issue, or a caller who asks for a lawyer and will not be put off. It takes a callback number and reads it back before it transfers, because transfers fail and a lost call from someone in custody is the worst outcome on this line. Everything else is raised as a callback request within seconds.
Can it book a consultation?
No. It has no calendar and no access to your system, and it is instructed never to name a day or a time it cannot see. It takes the matter properly and hands it over so an intake lawyer books it. Writing into your calendar or your case management system is not built, and we are not going to say it is.
Find out what your phone is costing you.
The audit is free, it runs on your own numbers, and it takes one short call.