AI Studio · Law firms
Client intake automation for law firms: conflicts, KYC and matter opening
New work reaches a firm through many doors. A referral from another counsel, a call to reception, a website form, a partner's phone. Before anyone bills an hour, the firm must run a conflict check, verify who the client is, agree scope and fees in an engagement letter and open the matter. Finaley AI Studio runs that intake path across every channel, inside your practice management system, and leaves the decision to accept a matter with your partners.
Intake is spread across people and inboxes
Enquiries land with whoever happened to pick them up. Party names are spelt three ways, so conflict searches miss related entities. KYC documents arrive in pieces over email and WhatsApp. Engagement letters are copied from an old file and edited by hand, and matters get opened late, which means time recorded against nothing. When intake is inconsistent, the firm carries risk it cannot see and loses prospective clients who simply went elsewhere while waiting for a reply.
How the automation runs
- 1
Capture every enquiry
AI agentWebsite forms, reception call notes, referral emails and partner forwards are gathered into one intake record with the parties, matter type and urgency.
- 2
Run the conflict search
AI agentThe agent searches your client and matter database for every party, director and related entity, including spelling variants, and lists every possible hit.
- 3
Partner clears conflicts
Professional checkA partner or your risk team reviews each potential conflict and decides whether the firm can act, and on what terms.
- 4
Collect and check KYC
AI agentIt requests identity and incorporation documents, checks names, PAN and registration details for consistency, and chases anything still missing.
- 5
Draft the engagement letter
AI agentIt fills your engagement letter template with scope, fee basis, billing contact and team, ready for the responsible partner to approve and sign.
- 6
Open the matter
AI agentOnce the letter is signed and the retainer is recorded, it creates the client and matter in your practice management system with the correct codes.
One intake path, whatever system holds your matters
Firms use very different tools here, from Clio, PracticeLeague or LegalDesk to an Excel register and an Outlook calendar. Finaley works with what you have, through an API where one exists or through the screens the way your intake coordinator would. Conflict data, templates and numbering conventions stay yours.
Accepting a client is a partner's decision
The automation gathers facts and prepares documents. It never decides that a conflict is clear or that a client is acceptable. Those calls sit with the partner or the risk committee, and each clearance is recorded against the matter with the name of the person who gave it.
What you get
- Every enquiry logged, whichever channel it came through
- Conflict searches that include related parties and spelling variants
- Engagement letters sent from the current template every time
- Matters opened before the first hour is recorded
Questions
How is this different from automating intake emails?
Email triage only sorts enquiries. This covers the full intake path a firm needs before work begins: conflict searches, partner clearance, client KYC, the engagement letter and matter opening, across referrals, calls and web forms as well as email.
Can it run conflict checks against our old matters?
Yes, if those matters are in a system or register the automation can search. It looks for exact and close matches on parties and related entities and shows every result to the partner. It never marks a conflict as cleared by itself.
What does client KYC involve here?
It collects the identity, address and incorporation documents your firm asks for, checks that names and numbers agree across them and with the enquiry, and chases what is missing. Anything that does not add up goes to your risk team for a decision.
Will engagement letters go out automatically?
No. The automation fills your approved template with the scope, fees and team, then the responsible partner reviews and signs it. Firms can choose to have the signed letter sent automatically once approval is recorded, but the content is always approved by a lawyer.
How long does setup take?
That depends on how many intake channels and templates you have. We start with a call or recording of your intake coordinator's routine, build the path, and test it on past enquiries until the outputs match what your team did. Only then does it handle live enquiries.
More automations for Law firms
- Case status tracking automation for law firmsFinaley reads daily cause lists and eCourts records, updates the firm diary with next dates and orders, and flags deadlines for advocate review.Read more ›
- Contract review automation for law firmsFinaley runs a first-pass review of contracts against your firm's playbook, marks deviations and missing clauses, and an advocate decides every change.Read more ›
In the tools you use
- Compliance calendar automation in ExcelFinaley keeps your legal compliance tracker in Excel current: it tracks filing deadlines and contract renewals, reminds owners and flags overdue items.Read more ›
- Legal client intake automation in GmailFinaley sorts new client emails in Gmail, collects documents, runs conflict checks and drafts the intake note, with an advocate reviewing every new matter.Read more ›
- Case status updates on WhatsApp for law firmsFinaley tracks hearing dates and case status for your matters and sends clients clear WhatsApp updates, reviewed by an advocate before they go out.Read more ›
Show us how your team does it.
Send a screen recording or book a call. We build it, test it on your past work, and only switch it on when the results match your team's.