Legal intake

What it is

Intake covers everything from the first call, text or web form to a signed client. A good intake captures the facts that decide whether the firm takes the case: what happened and when, injuries and treatment, insurance on both sides, public entities involved, prior lawyers, and for employment cases the dates of protected activity and adverse actions.

The California rules

Rule of Professional Conduct 1.18 protects prospective clients: what they share in a consultation is confidential even if the firm declines the case, and learning harmful information can create conflicts for the firm. Rule 7.3 limits live person-to-person solicitation for pay, and Business and Professions Code 6152 bars using runners or cappers to bring in cases. Several deadlines may already be running when the client calls, including the six-month government claim deadline and the statute of limitations, so intake should calculate them rather than leave them for later.

Why it matters to a plaintiff firm

Intake is where a firm wins or loses cases it never sees again. Leads that wait for a callback sign with someone else, and leads signed without screening become costly files. Firms use practice-specific question sets, track which sources produce signed cases, set follow-up rules for every stage, and send the retainer for e-signature on the first call when the case fits. For employment screening, see employment law intake screening.