The firm that stopped losing clients at 8pm.
The situation
A three-lawyer family law practice in downtown Toronto. Strong referrals, good reviews — and an intake process that only worked during business hours. People dealing with separation and custody tend to research at night; the firm's phone log showed nearly two-thirds of first-contact attempts landing on voicemail after 6pm. Most never called twice. The firm had also bought a website chat widget the year before; it collected names and went nowhere.
The scope — one workflow, one number
The number to move: booked consultations per month. The workflow: first contact to booked consult. Nothing else was touched in phase one.
- 01
24/7 intake agent on the existing number and website — answers instantly, explains the consultation process, and books directly into each lawyer's calendar. It gathers the practical facts (matter type, urgency, opposing party name for conflict screening) and never gives legal advice.
- 02
Conflict-aware handoff — every intake lands in the CRM with the conflict-screening fields filled, flagged for a human check before the consult is confirmed. Anything sensitive routes straight to staff with the conversation attached.
- 03
Phase two, earned: after the consult number moved, we added document chasing — the retainer, financial disclosure checklists, and ID requests now follow up on their own schedule instead of a clerk's.
Privacy, by design
Family law enquiries are sensitive. The agent collects the minimum needed to book and screen, data stays in the firm's own accounts with Canadian residency, nothing trains any model, and the firm holds a written data map — the documentation their insurer asked for and finally got.
“The Monday after launch there were four consults on my calendar from the weekend. That used to be zero, every week.”Managing partner — family law, Toronto