Law Firms

Legal Intake: How to Turn More Enquiries into Suitable Signed Matters

Acquiring an enquiry costs money. Losing it between inbox, phone and diary means paying twice. Intake makes conversion visible.

Published 24 Aug 2026Updated 24 Aug 20263 min readAYVION Intelligence

Legal intake is the process that receives, records, screens and advances an enquiry to consultation and a suitable signed matter. It protects time, confidentiality, conflict procedures and matter quality. The minimum pipeline is enquiry → assigned → preliminary fit → consultation → decision → outcome.

Stages and exit criteria

Stage	Exit criterion	Required data
New	Logged	Source and matter
Assigned	Owner	Response time
Screened	Preliminary fit	Jurisdiction, urgency, opposing party
Consultation	Confirmed	Documents and reminder
Decision	Closed	Signed or loss reason

Gather context without an interrogation

Acknowledge, restore context and explain why information is needed. Collect only what is necessary through suitable channels. Conflict, confidentiality and privacy procedures vary by jurisdiction.

Ownership and response SLA

Every enquiry needs an owner and next action. A shared inbox is not ownership. Define priority and escalation.

Reduce missed consultations

Confirm date, format, fee where applicable, documents and expectations. Make rescheduling simple.

Feed loss reasons back to Marketing

Track outside practice, conflict, no response, no-show, timing, economics or competitor. AYVION connects these reasons to targeting, pages and offer.

FAQ

Is a CRM required?: A single source of truth with owner, stage and next action is required; software follows process.
Who should handle intake?: A trained role with clear scope and escalation.
How much follow-up?: Adapt it to stage, urgency, consent and channel; define stop rules.
What is the core KPI?: Sustainable conversion from suitable enquiry to signed matter.