Manual client intake — phone calls, paper forms, email chains, and manual conflict checks — costs the average small law firm 8–12 billable hours per week. At $350/hour, that's $145,000–220,000 per year in unbilled time.
Most firms don't see it this way because the cost is diffuse — spread across admin staff, lawyers, and paralegals, invisible in any single line item. But add it up: intake calls, data entry into practice management, email back-and-forth for missing information, manual conflict checks in a spreadsheet, and drafting retainer agreements from scratch in Word.
The intake process at most small firms
A prospective client calls or emails. A receptionist takes notes and emails a lawyer. The lawyer calls back. Eventually, the client is asked for their information via email or PDF form. The data gets manually entered into Clio. A paralegal runs a conflict check from memory or a spreadsheet. A retainer agreement is drafted, emailed as a PDF, printed, signed, scanned, and returned. Every handoff is a potential failure — and billable time lost.
What automated intake looks like
A Clio Grow intake form on your website collects client information digitally. Clio checks for conflicts automatically. If clear, it generates a retainer with pre-populated data and sends it for e-signature. The client signs on their phone. The matter opens in Clio Manage automatically. Total lawyer time for a conflict-free intake: under five minutes.
A free Intake Process Audit maps your current intake workflow, quantifies your time cost, and identifies the fastest improvements. Get your free Intake Process Audit →