WorkflowLaw Firm Risk, Intake & Compliance

New Business Intake

Law firm new business intake that turns a partner’s forwarded email into a sourced intake form, a cited risk score and approvals that run side by side, then opens the matter with each approver’s condition in billing.

Watch it work Book a walkthrough

Follow one request from forwarded email to open matter ↓

Watch with transcript →

The problem

The partner’s email is retyped, sent back, then passed from inbox to inbox

A partner asks for a new matter in a couple of lines. The intake specialist retypes them into the intake form, finds most fields still empty, and sends the request back. Then conflicts, finance, risk counsel and sometimes the general counsel take it in turn, each waiting on the last.

All matters take that same road, so a repeat client’s lease amendment queues behind a contingency suit. Meanwhile the partner waits, or starts work before the matter is open, which is where unbilled time and unchecked conflicts come from.

Built forIntake specialistsRequesting partnersRisk counselFinance teamsConflicts analysts

The Problem Today

A partner’s two-line email turns into a long intake form and a chain of approvals that runs one after another.

71%: of large firms return over 10% of intake requests to fix published
14–20: new matters opened per lawyer each year published

Done by hand today

Emails
Forms
Conflicts
Approvals

Same route for every matterRoutine repeat work waits behind the risky cases
Partners start work earlyTime recorded before conflicts are cleared

The Solution

Form filled from the emailPrior matters and records fill the rest; the partner is asked once
Risk scored, point by pointFee terms, matter type, sector, press, sanctions and history
Only the lanes it needsConflicts, credit, identity and risk counsel run at once
Each lane signed by a personConditions carried into billing, then the matter opens

Built-in controls

Only the named role can approve its lane
Conflicts run on each matter; agents never clear a hit
Client files stay out of model training

What You Get

The matter opens with each approval on the record beside its reason, after only the reviews its risk calls for.

General counsel: high risk onlyRoutine repeat matters take two lanes, not five
Conditions land in billingCost caps and review points set as the matter opens
Client guidelines appliedThe client’s AI, travel and reporting terms set at opening

The intake desk’s screens

Law firm new business intake, one screen for each step a new matter takes

In the order a request reaches them, each screen named for the role that works it and the chore it takes off their desk.

01Prefilled intake form
An intake form prefilled from the partner’s email, each value sourced
How it works
- The partner forwards the request; the form reads the email, the client record and prior matters
- Each value is tagged with its source: the email, a prior matter or the firm directory
- 6 values from the two lines, 26 from prior matters and the client record, 6 from the directory
- 38 of 42 fields filled before anyone types
Intake specialistStops the retyping of partners’ emails, and the requests sent back for fields the firm already holds.
02Questions to the partner
One message to the partner for the fields no record could answer
How it works
- A field the agents cannot source stays blank instead of guessed
- Cost budget, third-party funding, local counsel and the second partner, asked together
- Answered in 26 min, in any form, and the reply fills the fields
Requesting partnerOne short message to answer and no form sent back, so the team can be staffed the day the client asks.
03Risk score
A matter risk score with each factor’s points and source shown
How it works
- 62 of 100, medium-high, from 7 factors weighted by the general counsel
- Fee terms, matter type, sector, adverse press, sanctions and client history each add or take points
- Each point opens the source it came from
- The score picks who must look; risk counsel still decides
Risk counselSees why a matter scored what it scored, point by point, without rebuilding the file from the partner’s email.
04Matter lanes
Parallel approval lanes, opened only where the score calls for them
How it works
- Medium-high opens conflicts, anti-money-laundering, finance credit and risk counsel together
- Each bar shows who holds the step and for how long
- The general counsel lane stays empty with its reason: score 62 is below 75
Requesting partnerSees where the matter stands and who holds it right now, so staffing starts on the day it opens.
05Conflict hits
A conflicts search that proposes each hit’s clearance and its reason
How it works
- 14 parties, their affiliates and former names searched against past and present clients
- Of 37 hits, 36 proposed clear, each beside the prior matter that explains it
- One goes to the analyst: the adverse party’s former parent, once a client of the firm
- Only the analyst clears a hit
Conflicts analystSpends the hour on the one hit that needs judgment, with the other thirty-six already explained.
06Identity refresh
An identity refresh that starts when a repeat client’s check is stale
How it works
- Repeat clients are rechecked after 12 months, or when someone else pays
- This client’s last check was 14 months old, so the refresh ran
- Owners compared with the client record, and found unchanged
- 14 parties screened against sanctions lists and politically exposed persons, 0 matches
Anti-money-laundering officerConfirms a refreshed check on a repeat client in one sitting, with the owners and each party’s screen in front of them.
07Credit
A credit check weighing payment history against the cost the firm carries
How it works
- Days to pay on the last 8 invoices, against a 41-day average
- $186,400 outstanding, none of it older than 60 days
- Approved with a condition: costs above $640,000 need the client’s written approval
Credit managerWeighs a good payer against a contingency where the firm carries about $3.1 million of time, and writes the cost cap into billing.
08Approvals
A board of what waits on each approver, timed against its limit
How it works
- 39 waiting across 6 people, 6 of them over their lane’s time limit
- Each request shows how long it has waited, and turns red past the limit
- Nudge or reassign from the board; only the named role approves
Intake specialistKnows which approver to chase and why, without a string of reminder emails.
09Open matter
A matter opened with the approvers’ conditions already in billing
How it works
- Opens only after all 4 required lanes are approved
- A $640,000 cost cap and a $320,000 review point carried in from the approvers
- 6 timekeepers and the client’s guidelines, version 4, set at opening
- 5 h 40 min from the partner’s email to an open matter
Intake specialistOpens the matter with each approver’s condition already in its billing setup, so time is recorded only once each lane has said yes.

Seven factors, 62 points: the score that sent this suit to four lanes

A patent suit for a repeat client on a 30% contingency, scored on the general counsel’s weights.

Factor	Points	Why
Starting point, new litigation matter	16	Firm rule
Fee terms: 30% contingency, costs advanced to $640,000	+26	About $3.1 million of time at standard rates to trial
Matter type: patent suit against an operating company	+12	Counterclaims likely; about 30 months to trial
Sector: life sciences	+8	Regulated sector
Adverse press: 2 articles	+6	A shareholder suit the firm defended, since dismissed
Sanctions and politically exposed persons	0	14 parties screened, 0 matches
Client history: 11 matters	-6	Pays in 41 days on average
Score	62	Medium-high: conflicts, anti-money-laundering, finance credit and risk counsel

Five approvers sign their own lanes, and the intake specialist signs none

Agents prepare each lane. A named person with the right role decides it, and nobody approves a matter they requested.

Conflicts analyst

Sees: The hit the agent could not settle, with the prior matter behind it
Signs: Clears each conflict hit

Anti-money-laundering officer

Sees: Owners against the client record, and each party’s sanctions screen
Signs: Confirms the identity refresh

Credit manager

Sees: Days to pay, what is outstanding by age, and the cost the firm carries
Signs: Approves credit and sets the cost cap and review point

Risk counsel

Sees: The score, each factor and its source, and the adverse press
Signs: Approves medium-high matters and sets their conditions

General counsel

Sees: High-risk matters only, and proposed changes to the routing weights
Signs: Approves high-risk matters and any change to the routing rules

Intake specialist

Sees: The lanes, the approvers’ queues and the opening checklist
Signs: Opens the matter, and approves no lane

Around the request

The source, the what-if, the letter and the record behind one matter

What the partner, the approvers and the systems administrator open beside the lanes.

Citation opened from the intake form: a prior infringement opinion with the accused process, adverse affiliates and adverse counsel highlighted — **Where a prefilled value came from**Each source tag opens the record behind the value. This one is an earlier infringement opinion naming the accused process and the adverse affiliates.

Risk score what-if at hourly fee terms: 36 of 100, medium, with the risk counsel and general counsel lanes struck through — **Other fee terms, same matter**Set the what-if to hourly and the score drops to 36, medium, so risk counsel would not be needed. The matter itself is left as it was.

Board of 47 open new matter intake requests, each with its risk score, lane dots, elapsed time and status, sorted by what needs a person first — **All open requests, each with its lanes**47 open requests with their scores and lanes as dots. A repeat client’s lease amendment scored 18, took two lanes and opened in 1 h 50 min.

Contingency fee engagement letter drafted at opening: 30% of the gross recovery, costs advanced to $640,000 and repaid first, and monthly reporting — **The letter the partner sends**Drafted to meet risk counsel’s condition: the 30% fee, how costs are advanced and repaid, and who bears them if nothing is recovered. It goes out over the partner’s signature.

Audit record of one law firm new business intake request: 15 entries from the forwarded email to the opened matter, agents and approvers in order — **Fifteen entries, read-only**Agent steps and decisions in order, from the forwarded email to the opened matter, held until 10 years after the matter ends.

Intake settings: four routing bands with their lanes, risk factor weights, lane time limits, and roles with what each may decide — **The rules behind the routing**Bands and their lanes, risk weights, lane time limits and separation of duties. A change is proposed by the systems administrator and approved by the general counsel.

Behind the lanes

Agents fill the form and draft the letter; a named person approves each lane

One job each, and none of those jobs is a decision on a lane.

Intake reader

Prefills the 42-field form from the partner’s email, the client’s prior matters and the firm directory, citing each value’s source, and asks the partner for the rest in one message.

Never invents a value: a field it cannot source stays blank and is asked

Risk scorer

Scores fee terms, matter type, sector, adverse press, sanctions and client history, and shows each point with its source.

Never changes a weight; only the general counsel can

Lane router

Opens the lanes the score and the rules require, all at once where they do not depend on each other.

Never skips conflicts
Never removes a lane a person added

Conflicts triage

Searches each party, affiliate and former name, and proposes a clearance for each hit with the prior matter behind it.

Never clears a hit; the conflicts analyst does

Credit and identity checker

Reads payment history and what is outstanding, refreshes beneficial owners and screens each party for sanctions.

Never approves credit
Never contacts the client

Matter opener

Opens the matter in billing with the conditions, the timekeepers and the client’s guidelines, and drafts the engagement letter.

Never opens a matter before each required lane is approved
Never sends the letter

Lanes, conflicts and conditions: questions on law firm new business intake

What is law firm new business intake?

Law firm new business intake is the work between a partner asking for a matter and the matter being open for time: the form, conflicts, credit, identity and risk approval. Here the form is prefilled from the partner’s email, the risk is scored, only the lanes that score needs run at once, and the matter opens with each condition in billing.

Does each new matter still go through each approver?

No. Routing bands set by the general counsel decide the lanes. A low-risk repeat matter takes the partner and conflicts; medium adds finance credit, medium-high adds risk counsel, and only high-risk matters reach the general counsel.

Can the agents clear a conflict or approve credit?

No. Conflicts triage proposes a clearance and a reason for each hit; the conflicts analyst decides. Finance approves credit, the anti-money-laundering officer confirms identity checks and risk counsel approves medium-high matters.

What happens when the partner’s email leaves fields out?

Fields the agents cannot source stay blank. They become one message to the partner, who can reply in any form; the reply fills the fields and is cited as the partner’s answer.

How do an approver’s conditions reach the billing setup?

Each condition is carried into the billing setup and the engagement letter, and only the approver who set it can lift it. On a contingency matter that can be a cost cap needing the client’s written approval and a review point where finance gets a cost report.

Where does client data stay?

In the firm’s workspace, with each read, step and decision logged. Intake records are held while the matter runs and for the retention period the firm sets.

Law Firm Risk, Intake & Compliance