The Personal-Injury Intake Process, Step by Step

The personal-injury intake process is the path from a prospect's first call to a signed client. Because PI clients call several firms at once, the firm that runs this process fastest usually signs the case.

Nimbus Marlowe is the AI operations layer for personal-injury law firms, starting with intake. ## What is the personal-injury intake process?

It is the sequence that turns a new lead into a retained client. In a plaintiff PI practice it runs roughly like this: capture the lead, qualify the claim, record the accident and injuries, screen for potential conflicts, book the consultation, send the retainer for signature, and open the matter. Every step is an opportunity to move the case forward, or to lose it.

The process, step by step

1. Answer immediately

The lead is calling more than one firm. Answer live, day or night. In Clio's 2019 Legal Trends Report, 79 percent of legal consumers said they expect a response within 24 hours of reaching out, 39 percent of calls went to voicemail, and more than half of firms did not respond to voicemails within 72 hours. A missed call is a missed case, and on contingency it is the whole fee.

2. Qualify the claim

Confirm the basics against your firm's criteria: the type of accident, when and where it happened, whether the person is being treated, and whether the claim fits what your firm takes on.

3. Capture the facts

Record the story while it is fresh: how the accident happened, the injuries, treatment so far, insurance details, and the other party's information.

4. Screen for conflicts

Flag any potential conflict against existing clients and related parties, and route it to an attorney to review and decide. The system surfaces the flag. The lawyer determines the conflict.

5. Book the consultation

Schedule the attorney meeting before the caller hangs up, while intent is highest.

6. Send the retainer

Get the agreement out for e-signature quickly, so a warm lead does not cool off.

7. Open the matter

Move the signed client into your case system with the intake data attached, ready for case preparation.

Where the process breaks

The speed research outside law says the same thing. A March 2011 Harvard Business Review study of 1.25 million sales leads found that firms trying to contact a lead within an hour were nearly 7 times as likely to qualify it as firms that tried an hour later, and more than 60 times as likely as firms that waited 24 hours or longer. In the companion audit of 2,241 companies, 23 percent never responded to a test lead at all.

In most small firms, step one fails after hours and step six slips because the attorney is busy. Those two leaks, the unanswered 9pm call and the retainer that sits unsent, lose more cases than anything about the quality of the legal work.

The case is usually won or lost in the first hour, not the courtroom.

How Nimbus Marlowe runs the intake process

Nimbus Marlowe's intake coordinator answers every call 24/7 in a real voice, qualifies the claim against your criteria, captures the facts, flags potential conflicts for your review, and books the consultation. From there the matter moves into your system for attorney review and retainer. Intake is where cases are won or lost, and this is the part that runs on its own, under your supervision.

Start free or book a call to hear it handle a live intake.