In short
Our legal intake services place remote intake and admin staff with US law firms, personal injury and immigration first. They work in your CRM, phone and email under your attorneys' supervision, and your firm stays responsible for the work.
Staff don't give legal advice, quote fees or accept cases. They take the repeatable office work so your attorneys can spend their time on cases.
What does a legal virtual assistant do?
A legal virtual assistant is a remote staff member who handles a law firm's repeatable office work. At a PI or immigration firm, most of it is intake work, from the first call to the booked consultation.
| Task | What staff do | What stays with your attorneys |
|---|---|---|
| New inquiries | Call back and run your screening questions | Whether to take the case |
| Forms and documents | Send intake forms and questionnaires, chase the gaps and keep a checklist for each matter | Reading what comes back |
| Records and client details | Request medical records and bills, collect photos, police reports and insurance details, and log what is missing | Using them in the case |
| Reminders and booking | Send the reminders your attorney sets and book consultations into the calendar | Filing deadlines and legal advice |
| Client updates | Check in with clients so nobody is left wondering what's happening | What to tell them about the case |
| Shared inbox | Sort messages and flag what needs an attorney | Every legal question and fee |
Slow first replies are a common leak. Someone on shift whose job includes the first call can close that gap. Our guide to replying to new leads fast shows the full workflow, from the first form to the booked consultation. For what to hand over and what it costs, read how to hire a legal virtual assistant.
What staff don't do, and what stays with your attorneys
Staff don't give legal advice, quote fees, accept a case, pick a strategy or sign anything. Those decisions stay with a licensed attorney at your firm.
Included
- Answering and logging new inquiries in your CRM
- Running your screening questions and booking consultations
- Sending, chasing and checking intake forms until they come back complete
- Records and bills requests, and document collection
- Client check-ins, reminders and inbox triage
- Working from scripts and a do-not-say list your attorneys approve
Not included
- Legal advice, or any view on whether someone has a case
- Accepting or declining a case, or talking about fees
- Preparing, signing or submitting filings for a client
- Paralegal work or legal research. We don't provide paralegals.
- Calls, texts or messages to people who haven't contacted your firm
This is an admin hand-off, not legal process outsourcing. If you want document review or legal research done remotely, that's a different service and we don't offer it.
What does a legal intake role cover, and what happens with conflicts?
Legal intake is the job of taking a new inquiry from first contact to a booked consultation. The person doing it asks your screening questions, records the answers and hands the file to an attorney. The remote staff we place do this job and the admin around it, never legal or paralegal work.
On conflicts, staff collect the names of the people involved, because your attorneys need them. They don't decide whether there is a conflict or whether to take the case. An attorney at your firm makes both calls, using your own conflict check.
If a caller asks whether they have a case, staff say an attorney will review it and book the call. Check your state's rules on intake and client information with your ethics counsel.
Legal answering service or dedicated intake staff?
A shared legal answering service suits a firm that only needs calls picked up and details taken. Dedicated intake staff suit a firm that wants one person to work each inquiry through to a booked consultation. An in-house hire suits a firm that wants that person in the office.
| What you compare | Remote intake staff | Answering service | In-house hire |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learns your case types | Yes, over time | Usually works from a short script | Yes, over time |
| Works in your CRM | Yes, with their own login | Often takes a message only | Yes |
| Who supervises | Your attorneys | Your attorneys review what comes through | Your attorneys |
| What you handle | Supervision and sign-off | Calling people back | Hiring, payroll and supervision |
An answering service is the better pick if you only need calls answered after hours and your team does the rest. It also suits a firm with too few calls to keep one person busy, or one that needs every hour of the night covered. Ask any service what it does beyond taking a message, and who calls the person back.
Dedicated staff make more sense once inquiries arrive every day and nobody owns the follow-up. If many of your urgent calls come at night, read how after-hours intake works for criminal defense firms.
An AI receptionist is different again: software answers and books, and no person learns your cases. Our guide to AI receptionists covers what one can and can't do, and the tools side is under intake and CRM. Weighing staff against an answering company or an AI? Read legal answering services compared.
Who supervises remote staff, and who is responsible?
Your attorneys supervise remote staff, and your firm stays responsible for their work. We handle the logins and scripts. We're not a law firm, so supervising the work stays with you.
The ABA's model rule on nonlawyer assistants is Rule 5.3.[1] Paragraph (b) of the model rule says:
"a lawyer having direct supervisory authority over the nonlawyer shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the person's conduct is compatible with the professional obligations of the lawyer"[1]
Paragraph (a) gives partners and managers a similar duty: firm-wide measures that give reasonable assurance of the same thing.[1] That's the ABA model rule. Each state adopts its own version, and California's is Rule 5.3 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct. This is general information, not legal advice.
What supervision looks like day to day
- Name one supervising attorney. Staff know who to ask, and that person signs off on the scripts.
- Write the allowed tasks down on one page: what staff do, and what they hand straight to an attorney.
- Review calls or notes on a schedule, for example a weekly look at a sample of calls and CRM notes.
- Fix the script when something goes wrong, then tell staff what changed.
What a working intake hand-off looks like
Every new inquiry lands in your CRM, where staff reply, screen it and book the consultation. Anything about the case itself goes straight to the supervising attorney. A written call sheet helps new staff, and our free intake form templates have one for each practice area.
- New inquiryCall, web form or chat
- Remote intake staff
- Log it in your CRM
- Run your screening questions
- Send forms and book the consultation
- Chase records, bills and documents
- Your supervising attorney
- Decides on the case
- Gives legal advice and talks fees
- Reviews calls and notes
We handle the logins, scripts and hand-off. Your firm signs it off.
What to settle before staff start
Nothing should go live until your firm signs it off. Agree these five things first.
A call about the role
Settle the work to hand over, your case types, the hours you need covered and which attorney will supervise. We go through these with you on the intro call.
Your firm picks the person
Whoever works your inquiries should be someone your firm has interviewed and chosen.
Logins in your firm's name
Each person gets their own logins to your CRM, phone and email, set up in your firm's name.
Scripts your attorneys approve
Call scripts, email templates and a do-not-say list are written with your firm. Your attorneys approve them before the first call.
Start small, then add more
Begin with a few tasks, such as call-backs and form chasing. Add more once the supervising attorney is happy.
Staff work inside the intake system we build under intake and CRM. They pick up the inquiries that come in from Google and Meta ads (lead generation) and from local search (local SEO and AI search).
How is client data kept safe when staff work remotely?
Staff should work inside your firm's own systems, each with their own login, so access can be removed the moment it's no longer needed. Your firm stays responsible for client data, wherever staff sit.
Ask any provider these questions before anyone gets access:
- Does each person get their own login, never a shared one?
- Is two-step login switched on for every account?
- Can staff download client files to a personal device?
- How fast is access removed when someone leaves?
- Who can see call recordings and notes, and where are they stored?
Rules on client data and call recording differ by state. Check the setup with your ethics counsel before staff start.
Who this is a good fit for, and who it isn't
It fits small and mid-size PI and immigration firms with steady inquiries and nobody who owns intake. It doesn't fit firms that want legal work done for them.
A good fit
You get new inquiries every week, and intake falls to whoever is free that day. You have an attorney who can supervise, and a CRM or a plan to set one up.
Not a fit
You want paralegal work or legal research done for you. You want calls to accident victims who haven't contacted you, or a promise of signed cases. Nobody at the firm has time to supervise.
We also work with personal injury practices and immigration practices on ads and intake. Other practice areas are on the who we serve page.
Running a firm in England or Wales? Read the UK version of this page.
Questions firms ask before hiring remote staff
What does a legal virtual assistant do?
Repeatable office work: answering and logging new inquiries, chasing intake forms, requesting records, booking consultations and keeping clients updated. At a PI or immigration firm, much of that is intake.
Can a virtual assistant give legal advice?
No. Staff gather facts, book consultations and pass anything about the case to an attorney.
Is a legal virtual assistant the same as a paralegal?
No. The staff we place do intake and admin work, not paralegal work, and we don't provide paralegals. In California, "legal assistant" is defined in law as another word for paralegal, so we call them intake and admin staff.[2] If you're looking for a virtual paralegal, we're not the right fit. Staff introduce themselves to callers as intake staff, not as legal assistants or paralegals.
How much does a legal virtual assistant cost?
We don't publish a price, because it depends on the hours and the work. We'll talk it through on the intro call, once we know what you want to hand off.
Can they work in my CRM?
Yes. Staff work in the CRM you already use, such as Clio Grow, Lawmatics, HubSpot or GoHighLevel. If you have no CRM yet, see our guides to choosing a law firm CRM and choosing intake software. If you'd rather automate part of this, see AI and automation.
Is it safe to give a remote person access to client files?
It can be, with the right setup. That means their own login, two-step login switched on, no files on personal devices, and access removed the day they leave. The questions to ask any provider are listed under how client data is kept safe.
Will staff call people who haven't contacted us?
No. Staff handle inbound inquiries and existing clients only. They don't call, text or message anyone who hasn't reached out to your firm.
Sources
- American Bar Association, "Rule 5.3: Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer Assistance", ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, americanbar.org. Read October 8, 2026. Model rule only: each state adopts its own version.
- California Business and Professions Code section 6454, official text on the California Legislative Information site, also reproduced by Public.Law, california.public.law. Read October 8, 2026.
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