AI receptionist for law firms

What does an AI receptionist do for a law firm?

It handles intake and scheduling, and nothing beyond that. Ava returns missed calls within seconds. Max answers texts and web chat. Both capture who the caller is, what kind of matter it is in general terms, and the names your staff need for a conflicts check, then request a consultation according to your rules.

That fills a real gap. In Clio's 2024 secret-shopper study of 500 law firms, only 40% answered the phone, and 48% were essentially unreachable by phone even after the chance to call back. Clio also found that 67% of clients prefer having the ability to speak with a human when needed, which is why the AI hands off to your team whenever a caller asks.

What will the AI never do?

It will never practice law. These guardrails are built into its training and scripts:

• No legal advice, including "can she do that?" or "do I have a case?"
• No case evaluation, and no predictions about outcomes or settlement value
• No fee agreements or engagement terms beyond the consult fee you publish
• No statements that the firm represents the caller
• No collecting documents, medical records or detailed facts before an attorney asks

When a caller pushes for advice, it says plainly that an attorney will answer at the consultation and offers the next available time.

How does the conflicts check handoff work?

The AI collects only what's needed to run conflicts and book, and your staff make the call. A typical flow:

1. Caller's name and contact details.
2. Names of opposing or related parties, such as a spouse, business or insurer.
3. Matter type in general terms: divorce, estate plan, DUI, immigration.
4. Urgency, such as an upcoming court date or a recent arrest.
5. A requested consultation time, held as pending.
6. Your staff run the conflicts check in your own system.
7. Once cleared, the consultation is confirmed by text.

Keeping intake short is deliberate. Under ABA Model Rule 1.18, information learned from a prospective client must be protected even if no representation follows, and receiving more than necessary can create a conflict that affects the whole firm. Less detail before the conflicts check is the safer design.

Is AI intake consistent with attorney ethics rules?

It can be, when it's set up and supervised properly, but your state's rules govern and this isn't legal advice. A few points from the ABA framework:

• Supervision. ABA Formal Opinion 512 on generative AI says lawyers with supervisory duties must make sure nonlawyers, including third-party providers, are trained in the ethical and practical uses of AI.
• Confidentiality. Opinion 512 expects lawyers to understand how an AI tool uses data. Arifwork encrypts data in transit, doesn't use it to train shared models, and exports or deletes it on request.
• Solicitation. The comment to ABA Model Rule 7.3 says a communication isn't a solicitation if it's in response to a request for information. Arifwork only contacts people who reached out first or opted in.
• Advertising. Advertising rules vary by state, so the AI makes no claims about results, specialties or outcomes, and you approve every script before go-live.

Read more in is it legal to use AI to call and text customers, and confirm the details with your state bar.

What is a missed intake call worth? A worked example

For most consumer practices, one retained matter is worth far more than the time it takes to answer the phone. Example (illustrative assumptions): say about 34 intake calls a month go to voicemail, roughly 8 a week. Assume 10 of those are viable new matters, an instant callback keeps 2 that would have hired another firm, and your average fee per new matter is $3,000.

Use your own matter values and conversion rates in the ROI calculator.

Which practice areas get the most out of it?

High-volume, consumer-facing practices where callers contact several firms quickly: personal injury, family law, criminal defense, estate planning, immigration and bankruptcy. Criminal defense needs a fast urgent path, since a call about a new arrest at midnight should reach your on-call attorney, not wait for morning. Ava doesn't route urgent calls differently yet. She takes them like any other intake call, so keep your after-hours attorney line on your voicemail and website. See the after-hours answering use case for what Ava does overnight.

Setup takes about a week. We train the AI on your practice areas, consult types and fees, conflicts fields, scheduling rules and handoff contacts. You test it and approve the scripts before it goes live. Book a demo.

Frequently asked questions