Law Firm Client Intake Template

Intake Register

Ten days of enquiries at a fictional six-partner firm. Two were declined at stage one, which is the stage working.

Read the Stage column, not the Outcome column

IN-2042 and IN-2044 are the wins on this sheet. Both were turned away knowing only the party names and the matter type. Neither caller got as far as the facts, so neither declination left anything behind that could stop the firm acting for the other side.

IN-2044 is also a pattern. Two enquiries adverse to one existing client inside a week is a conversation about the client list rather than about either enquiry, and a register is the only place that is visible.

Conflict Search Log

Six searches across three enquiries. The word clear never appears without the string it was clear for.

Two rows carry the whole sheet

Three of Vantail’s four hits sit under the pre-2021 name. A search of the current registered name alone returns one hit and reads as marginal. The firm’s own file from four years ago is filed under the name that party had then, and only a deliberate prior-name search finds it.

Halverton’s single hit is a call that never became a matter. A person who consulted the firm is a prospective client whether or not anything followed, so a March enquiry from the other side is a live question rather than a near miss.

Prospective Client Record

One row per consultation, taken or declined. Categories of what was heard, never quotes.

Rows three and four heard the same category of thing and landed in opposite places

Halverton volunteered their objective before the call could be stopped. That is the information most useful to the other side, so the firm is screened, the notice went out, and both facts are dated on the row rather than living in somebody’s memory of a March phone call.

Vandermeer heard everything and cost the firm nothing. A short advance-consent notice was given before she spoke, so the firm is not prohibited from acting for another party in the matter. The decline was capacity.

Undecided on row two is a real answer with a partner’s name against it. Yes or No with nothing behind it is a guess somebody relies on later.

Matter Opening Checklist

One accepted matter. Every Done cell carries a date and the evidence behind it, because a tick on its own is a claim.

Two rows are blocking and seven are not

The last row of the red pair causes a claim entirely on its own. Nothing else has to go wrong. An undiarised limitation date on an accepted matter is the single most common way a well-run file turns into a negligence file.

Not applicable is a real answer and it carries its reason. Left blank, those two rows look outstanding forever, and a checklist that is permanently amber stops being read.