The short answer
This page builds a client intake form for your law firm. Pick a practice area, switch questions on or off, add your own, then print it, download it as Word or copy it. You get two versions: a short web form for your website and a full call sheet for your intake team. You can also email yourself ready-made Word and PDF files.
Build your intake form
Start with the practice area. The form appears below and changes as you edit it. Nothing you type here leaves this page unless you use the email form below.
2. Choose your questions
The core questions are on. Open a section to switch questions off, or to add the optional extras.
3. Your form
Email me this
We send your result to your inbox. This is optional, and you do not need it to use the tool.
Sent. Check your inbox.
We emailed . If it is not there in a few minutes, check your spam folder.
Ready-made Word and PDF files
Prefer a file? Each practice area has a Word version and a PDF. Both put the short web form on the first page and the full call sheet after it, with the core questions switched on.
| Practice area | Word | |
|---|---|---|
| General (any practice) | Download Word | Download PDF |
| Personal injury | Download Word | Download PDF |
| Immigration | Download Word | Download PDF |
| Family law | Download Word | Download PDF |
| Criminal defense | Download Word | Download PDF |
| Estate planning | Download Word | Download PDF |
Short web form or call sheet: which one do you need?
You need both, and they do different jobs. The web form is what a visitor fills in on your website. The call sheet is what your intake person works through on the first call. If your site needs a better home for the web form, see website design for law firms.
| What you compare | Short web form | Call sheet |
|---|---|---|
| Who fills it in | The visitor, on your website | Your intake person, on the first call |
| What it holds | Five to seven fields: name, phone, email, a few lines on what happened, and how they found you. Add an optional text consent box. Family law asks whether it is safe to contact the person instead. | Everything else: conflict names, dates, insurance, immigration status, court details |
A person on the phone can explain why a question matters and can hear a worried answer. A web form can't. That is why the detail waits for the call.
What should a law firm client intake form ask?
Ask only what your team needs to decide whether to take the case. That is who the person is, how to reach them, what happened and how they found you.
Keep sensitive detail for the call, such as medical history, immigration history or money. A person on the phone can explain why the question matters and who will see the answer. Treat everything that arrives through the form as confidential from the first message, and put the web form on a secure page.
Have your ethics counsel review the wording before you publish it, including what the form says about whether sending it creates a client relationship.
Where each answer goes in your CRM
Rishabh spent four years running intake, marketing and systems from inside law firms. Our first step with a new client is a call check. We call the firm, after hours too, and fill in its forms the way a new client would. Then we write down what happens.
Setting up the form is the smaller part of the work. Each answer needs a home in the CRM, and a person needs to own the reply. This table shows where the answers from the forms above usually go.
| Answer | Where it goes in the CRM | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Name, phone, email | The contact record | Every later step starts from this record |
| Practice area or matter type | The matter type, which picks the pipeline | Sends the inquiry to the right intake person |
| Incident, court or filing dates | A date field on the matter, not the notes | Reminders can run from a field, not from free text |
| How they heard about us | A required lead source field | Shows which marketing brings signed cases |
| Text consent | A consent field with the date and time | You can show when and how the person agreed |
| Names of the other parties | The conflict check field or related contacts | The check can run before the first consultation |
Where each field lives depends on your CRM. We set up Clio Grow, Lawmatics, HubSpot, GoHighLevel and Salesforce, or fix the CRM your firm already owns. Our legal intake software guide compares the main tools.
Keep the "how did you hear about us" field. It tells you whether Google search, Google Maps, an ad or a referral brings in signed cases. The cost per signed case guide shows what to do with that number.
A form is only the start: see how to reply to every new inquiry within minutes. Or read about our CRM and intake setup.
Common intake form mistakes
- Putting the whole call sheet on the website. A long form gives people a reason to leave without sending it.
- Leaving out "how did you hear about us", so you can't tell which marketing works.
- Using a free-text box for everything. Use a dropdown for practice area and source, so the CRM can sort and report.
- Sending every inquiry to a shared inbox where nobody owns the reply.
- Never testing the form. A site update can break it while it still looks fine. Send yourself a test inquiry every month.
Questions firm owners ask
Is this a legal document?
No. It is a list of questions for your intake team, not a contract. Naelar is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. The note under the builder says who should review it before you use it.
Can I put the web form on my website?
Yes. Copy the web form's fields into your form tool, or hand the list to your web team. Keep it to the five to seven fields shown. The call sheet stays inside your firm.
What about text message consent?
Use a separate checkbox, not ticked by default, and have your counsel check the wording. Store the date and time with the answer in your CRM.
Which CRM should I use for intake?
The one your team will fill in every day. We set up Clio Grow, Lawmatics, HubSpot, GoHighLevel and Salesforce, or fix the CRM your firm already owns. Our legal intake software guide compares the main tools.
Try this today
Fill in your own firm's inquiry form the way a new client would. It takes about ten minutes.
- Open your website on your phone and send a test inquiry, using a phone number and email you can check.
- Write down how long it takes for a person to call or email you back.
- Open your CRM and check that every answer landed in its own field, including where the inquiry came from.
More free tools for law firms include a marketing plan builder, a name generator and an AI visibility checker. If you want questions written for one practice area, use our estate planning intake form, family law intake form or immigration intake form.