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AI and automation for solicitors: enquiry agents and workflows

Out-of-hours calls and web enquiries get answered, logged and passed to the right fee earner, without anyone retyping them. Your solicitors still make every call back and every decision.

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In short

Legal automation is software taking over the answering, logging and chasing that staff do by hand between an enquiry and an instruction. Naelar builds an AI agent for the calls and chats nobody can take, and workflows that move each enquiry's details between your systems.

The agent never gives legal advice or decides whether your firm acts. Your firm signs off every script and workflow, and stays accountable for both.

What we build: AI agents and workflows

An agent that answers when nobody can, and workflows that log, alert and chase. Have both, or either one.

AI answering and enquiry agents

An AI agent is a voice or chat program that answers calls or website chats. It follows a script your firm writes and passes the details on. Ours answer when your firm can't, for example in the evening, at weekends or when every line is busy.

The agent says it's an AI at the start of every call and chat. It asks your own screening questions, books a call and writes the details to your CRM (the system that holds every enquiry and its stage). A person at your firm follows up.

We build it on a third-party voice or chat platform that we choose with you. n8n, a workflow tool, connects it to your CRM.

Workflow automation on n8n

n8n passes details between your forms, phone system, inbox, calendar and CRM, so nobody retypes them. A workflow is a set of steps that runs by itself when something happens, such as a new web enquiry.

Typical workflows we build for a solicitors firm:

  • Log each new call, chat, web form and ad enquiry in the CRM, with where it came from
  • Text or email the person on call when an enquiry lands out of hours
  • Route each enquiry by practice area to the right team
  • Remind a fee earner when a sent quote is due a chase
  • Chase the ID documents your firm has asked a new client for

Conflict, ID and anti-money laundering (AML) checks stay with your firm. A workflow can remind someone they're due, but it doesn't do them.

The workflows run on Naelar's own n8n server or inside your firm's own tools. If it happens inside your CRM, it's part of intake and CRM. If it answers people or connects your systems, it's this service.

Which kinds of legal automation do we not build?

We don't build document assembly, billing or legal research tools. We automate the front door: the answering, logging and chasing around a new enquiry.

Document automation and billing usually come from your case management supplier. Ask them and your compliance officer about those. We can connect them to the enquiry workflows where they accept a direct connection.

Who handles a new enquiry, step by step

Software does the answering, logging and alerting. Your people make the call back and every decision about the matter.

Who handles a new enquiry, step by step Five steps run top to bottom. One, a new call, chat or web form arrives. Two, it is answered: by your team in office hours, or by the AI agent when nobody can. Three, a workflow logs the details in your CRM. Four, the person on call gets a text or a CRM alert. Steps two to four are automated. Five, a person at your firm calls back, screens the enquiry and decides. 1. New call, chat or form Any hour, any channel 2. Answered Your team in office hours, the AI agent when nobody can 3. Logged in your CRM A workflow writes the details and the source 4. Alert to the person on call A text or a CRM notice AUTOMATED 5. A person calls back Screens the enquiry and decides YOUR PEOPLE
  1. New call, chat or formAny hour, any channel
  2. AnsweredYour team in office hours, the AI agent when nobody can
  3. Logged in your CRMA workflow writes the details and the source
  4. Alert to the person on callA text or a CRM notice
  5. A person calls backScreens the enquiry and decides

Answering, logging and alerting are automated. Your people make the call back.

When automation is worth it, and when it isn't

It pays when enquiries arrive every week and some wait in a shared inbox or go to voicemail. A firm with a few enquiries a month won't see the benefit.

A paper collage of a desk phone and a chat bubble joined by a stitched thread to an index card filed in a tray, under a crescent moon.

Worth it

Evening calls go to voicemail. Web enquiries wait until Monday. Staff copy the same details into the CRM, the diary and an email. You want each enquiry acknowledged in minutes and passed to a named person.

Not worth it yet

A few enquiries a month won't keep an agent busy. Start with PPC management for solicitors (paid ads on Google and Meta) or local SEO and AI search. If nobody has written down your enquiry steps, start with intake and CRM.

What one firm's response times showed

UK data on how fast solicitors reply to enquiries is scarce. In one conveyancing firm we work with, the CRM showed a first response time of 2 hours 46 minutes for 21 to 27 October 2026. Only 4% of leads were answered within 5 minutes. That's one firm in one week, and results vary by firm, area and market.

The call check in step 1 below shows you your own figure. The firm's other figures are in our conveyancing lead generation case study.

Where to go next

What the AI agent and workflows never do

They collect facts and pass them on. Anything that needs a solicitor's judgement goes to a person at your firm.

  • Give legal advice, or say whether someone has a claim
  • Decide whether your firm acts, or quote a fee
  • Call or text people who never contacted your firm
  • Change a live script without your sign-off
  • Hide that the caller is talking to an AI

Paragraph 2.3 of the SRA Code of Conduct for Firms keeps your firm accountable when work is carried out through others you contract with.[1] Ask your compliance officer how that applies to an agent answering for your firm. Naelar is not a law firm, so check the script and the out-of-hours wording with them before launch.

How a build runs

Five steps, and your firm signs off each one.

  1. Call check

    We call your firm, out of hours too, and fill in your forms the way a new client would. We write down what happens.

  2. Map the steps

    From first enquiry to signed client care letter: who does each step, where details wait, and what gets typed twice.

  3. Draft the script and workflows

    Your screening questions, what the agent says and never says, and where each detail goes. Your firm approves the wording.

  4. Test with real calls and forms

    We make real calls and send real forms, then find each one in your CRM.

  5. Hand over

    Your team sees what each workflow does and who to tell if a step stops.

Testing on real enquiries, not the test button

In September 2026, on our own lead routing, an ad platform's test button reached our server. Real leads from the ads never arrived. The test only proved the connection.

So step 4 sends a real form and makes a real call, and checks that each one reaches your CRM and the person on call. Rishabh Goria worked inside law firms for four years, running intake, marketing and systems, before he started Naelar.

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Where it runs and who owns it

Your firm owns the accounts. The workflows run on our server or inside your own systems, whichever suits you.

Running workflows on our own n8n server or inside your own systems is a design choice. Each option has trade-offs on upkeep and on who holds the data, and we go through them with you before building.

  • The voice or chat platform, the CRM and the other accounts are opened in your firm's name, and your firm owns them.
  • Every lead stays exclusive to your firm. We don't buy, sell or share leads.
  • Enquiry records hold personal details, and sometimes health or immigration facts. We keep the list of systems that touch them short, and we limit access to the people who work the enquiries.

Call recording and storing client data carry their own obligations, so check the setup with your compliance officer before launch.

What's included, and what isn't

Included

  • The agent's script and setup on the voice or chat platform chosen with you
  • Workflows on n8n, on our server or in your own systems
  • Connections to your CRM, diary, phone system and inbox
  • Alerts for the person on call
  • Testing with real calls and forms before launch
  • A handover to your team

Not included

  • Conflict, ID and AML checks.
  • Buying, selling or sharing leads.
  • AI for legal research or drafting.

Cost: how a build is scoped

We don't publish prices. The cost depends on the channels you want covered and the hours of call cover you need.

We never charge per instruction or take a share of your fees. The voice or chat platform is chosen with you.

Questions solicitors ask about AI and automation

Do you build AI for legal research or drafting?

No. We build for intake and the admin around new enquiries. Research and drafting tools are a different job, so ask the supplier and your compliance officer about those.

Do we need a new CRM first?

No. The agent and the workflows write to the CRM or case system you already use, where it accepts a direct connection. If it can't take the data, our intake and CRM service covers fixing or replacing it.

Can the agent book consultations into a fee earner's diary?

It books a call back, not the consultation. The call goes in the diary your firm chooses, with the details in your CRM. Your team books the consultation on that call.

Read next

GuideConveyancing CRMWhat the CRM should record when a quote request arrives. ServiceIntake and CRMThe CRM every answered call and enquiry lands in, set up or fixed. ServiceRemote intake and admin staffPeople who answer and log enquiries and chase paperwork. ServiceLaw firm website designYour own site, with every enquiry form wired to your CRM.

Sources

  1. Solicitors Regulation Authority, "SRA Code of Conduct for Firms", paragraph 2.3, sra.org.uk (Code of Conduct for Firms). Checked 17 October 2026. Regulator.

Tell us which enquiries wait until morning.

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