Intake and conflict checks for a business and commercial law firm

An owner with a dispute does not shop the way a consumer does. They write to a few firms, expect a lawyer-level answer, and judge you by how the first contact feels. This guide covers what a business and commercial firm should do from the first inquiry to the signed engagement letter, and what to measure.

What comes first: the conflict check

In a business practice, conflicts are common. Companies have partners, lenders, landlords and former employees, and any of them may already be your client. So the order matters.

1. Take names only. Ask for the caller’s name, the company, the other parties and the type of matter. Do not ask what happened.
2. Run the check before the substance. Your firm’s own conflict system decides. Marketing tools never replace it.
3. Tell the caller what you are doing, in a friendly way: “I need to check that we can act for you before we talk details.”
4. If there is a conflict, say so quickly and, where your firm’s policy allows, suggest another route. A fast no is a good first impression.

We never ask callers for case facts, and our intake notes keep to names, matter type and contact details. This is not legal advice; your firm and its ethics counsel set the policy.

What happens on the first call with an owner or executive?

The call has three jobs: understand the matter in plain words, decide if it fits, and agree the next step.

• Listen first. Let the owner tell the story, then ask what outcome they want and by when.
• Find the clock. Is there a hearing, a demand letter, a closing date or a lease deadline? Urgent matters go to a lawyer today.
• Say what you can and cannot promise. Never promise an outcome.
• Offer one next step: a meeting with a named lawyer, a document request, or a short written plan.

How should you qualify by matter type and amount at stake?

Sort every inquiry into a small set of types, then ask for the amount in dispute or the value of the deal. The point is to send the right matter to the right lawyer, not to turn people away.

The table shows that intake questions differ by matter, so one generic form fits none of them well.

Which fee model fits which work?

Say the model plainly on the first meeting. Owners dislike surprises more than they dislike fees.

• Retainer: an advance against hourly work, common in disputes and ongoing advice.
• Hourly: time billed at set rates, with estimates and updates.
• Flat fee: a set price for a defined task such as a formation or a lease review.
• Contingent fee: a share of a recovery, used for some claims and limited by state. See attorney fee caps by state.

Marketing values each retained matter from your own fee history, in a few bands, whichever model you use.

Referrals and existing clients

Most business work arrives through people. Record the source of every inquiry: the referrer’s name, an existing client, a search, an ad or a directory. Then keep three lines apart in your report: referral, existing client and marketing. For existing clients, the cheapest next matter is a regular check-in about what changed in their business. That is cross-sell worth doing, and it belongs in your own records, not in an advertising report.

How quickly must you respond?

Fast enough that the owner has not written to the next firm. A live dispute deserves an answer within minutes during business hours. A planned deal can wait until the same business day. Outside hours, send a short message that names a time and a person. Test it with the intake secret-shop worksheet, and see our intake monitoring service.

What should you measure?

• Answer rate and time to a lawyer-level reply, for each channel.
• Conflict checks run before substance, as a share of inquiries.
• Qualified inquiries by matter type.
• Consultations booked, as an early signal only.
• Retained matters, counted once when the engagement letter is signed, in your own system.
• Source of each retained matter, including referral and existing client.

Marketing is judged by retained matters, not calls or forms. See what counts as a new client by practice and law firm intake. The overview of this practice is on business and commercial law marketing.

What this means for your firm

• Check conflicts on names alone before any talk about substance.
• Put a lawyer or trained coordinator on the first call, and name the fee model early.
• Keep referral, existing-client and marketing matters on separate report lines.

Start with a free video review of your intake and we will show you where inquiries are lost.