A website chatbot for law firm intake, without legal advice

A prospective client who lands on your website at night has usually had a bad day: an accident, an arrest, a divorce filing, an eviction notice. They want to know one thing first: "Can you help me, and what will it cost to find out?" An Allinaa assistant answers that from your firm's approved information and collects enough for an intake call. It is set up to decline legal questions. AI answers can be wrong, so test those questions before launch.

What prospective clients ask first: case types, consultation fee, contingency

• "Do you handle car accident cases where the other driver was uninsured?"
• "Is the first consultation free?"
• "Do you work on contingency? What percentage?"
• "Do you take cases in my county?"
• "Do you have someone who speaks Spanish?"
• "How fast can I talk to a lawyer?"

Each of these has a factual answer your intake team gives every day. Write those answers once (practice areas, counties or courts you cover, consultation terms, how fees work in general as published on your site) and the assistant repeats them consistently. Contingency terms depend on the case; the safest knowledge text describes how your fees are structured and says the exact terms are set in a written agreement.

The disclaimer: no legal advice, no attorney-client relationship

Put a short disclaimer in the greeting and in the knowledge, in words your firm approves. A typical version:

Then configure the boundary: questions like "will I win?", "how much is my case worth?" or "should I plead guilty?" get a polite refusal and an offer to request a consultation. AI answers can be wrong, so test these questions yourself before launch, and repeat the test after you change the knowledge.

Intake: enough to call back, not the confidential story

The request form is the same for every business: a name (optional), an e-mail address or phone number, the visitor's permission to be contacted, and free-text boxes for the request. You can't add fields to it. What you can do is tell the assistant in the knowledge which routing questions to ask in the chat, up to three, one at a time:

• Practice area (from your list)
• County or state where the matter is
• Any deadline the person already knows about, such as a court date

The free-text boxes can receive anything, including the whole story of the case. Ask visitors in the greeting not to describe their matter in detail or share confidential documents in the chat: the less confidential detail sits in a website chat, the better for everyone. Inquiries go to your e-mail and your inquiry inbox, where your team can set a status, add private notes and export to CSV for your case management system. Allinaa does not connect to legal practice management software. See lead capture.

Conflict checks stay with your firm

The assistant does not know your client list and should never suggest that the firm can take a case. It can say that every new matter goes through a conflict check before the firm agrees to represent anyone. Collecting the names of opposing parties is your intake team's job on the phone, not the chatbot's.

Practice-area pages and page-aware answers

The assistant knows which page the visitor is reading. Someone on your workers' compensation page who asks "do I need a lawyer for this?" gets an answer framed around that practice area: what your firm handles and how to request a consultation. Well-written practice pages make the assistant better; thin pages make it vaguer.

Bar advertising rules: what to review with your state's rules

Lawyer advertising and solicitation rules vary by state. Before launch, review the greeting, the disclaimer, any statements about results or fees, and how intake data is handled against your state bar's rules. Some states have specific guidance about chat tools on law firm websites. We cannot advise on your state's rules; your firm's ethics counsel can. Our guide to regulated industries lists the general questions to work through.

Intake in Spanish and other languages

Many firms serve clients who are more comfortable in Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese or another language. Standard includes 3 languages (American English plus two you choose); Premium covers all supported languages. Make sure your knowledge says which languages your attorneys or staff actually speak, so the assistant does not imply a consultation will be in a language you can't offer.

Accounting and tax firms face similar questions: see accounting firms.

Questions owners ask

Can the chatbot give legal advice?

No. It is set up to answer questions about your firm and to decline legal questions, offering a consultation request instead.

Does chatting create an attorney-client relationship?

Your disclaimer should say it does not, and the assistant should repeat that. Have your firm approve the wording.

What intake details does it collect?

Contact details with consent, the answers to the routing questions you list (practice area, location, known deadlines) and whatever the visitor writes in the free-text boxes. Ask visitors in the greeting not to share confidential details there.

Is a chatbot allowed under bar advertising rules?

Rules vary by state. Review the greeting, disclaimer and data handling with your ethics counsel before launch.