A law firm answering service is specialized support consisting of a team of trained, live agents that handle calls for your firm when your staff is unavailable. Live agents answer your calls in your firm’s name, ask potential clients your intake questions, and route urgent calls to the correct attorney. They pick up when your own staff is unavailable.
Most firms don’t consider utilizing an answering service until they realize the calls and potential clients they’re losing. Imagine a request for a consult that sat in voicemail over the weekend. An accident victim who called your firm on Saturday and signed with a competitor who answered their initial call. Meanwhile, your receptionist spends mornings returning messages instead of helping the clients already in the office. These are just some of the examples of situations that may be causing your firm to lose potential clients, billable time, and new business.
This guide explains what a legal answering service does, how it handles a new-case call from start to finish, the questions to ask before you hire one, and what it costs.
What Happens When Law Firms Don’t Answer
In an ABA Law Practice Division study, people posing as prospective clients called small, consumer-focused law firms.
32%
32% of calls went directly to voicemail, and another 3% went unanswered.
<10%
Fewer than 10% of the prospective clients actually spoke with an attorney.
42%
In 42% of cases, it took attorneys three or more days to respond to voicemail and online inquiries.
Source: ABA Law Practice Division study, summarized in 2019 by Lawyers Mutual NC. For the rest of the findings, see what happens when someone calls your law firm.
What Is a Legal Answering Service?
A legal answering service handles calls for law firms, using live agents who have received specialized training answering legal calls. You may see this service advertised as: a legal call center, call center for lawyers, legal answering service, or a virtual receptionist. These titles are often used interchangeably. The distinction that matters most is in what happens once a call is answered.
A basic message-taking service writes down a name, a number and a reason for calling. While a step up from voicemail, your team still has to return the call back and gather necessary information.
A virtual receptionist greets callers, answers simple questions and transfers calls. This typically works well for a busy front desk during office hours.
A law firm answering service takes things a step further and handles the entire initial intake. Live agents ask your follow your questions, collect information and details needed by your team, identifies urgent calls based on your instructions, and deliver a complete intake so that your team can decide next steps. Southern Voices, law firm answering service provides this specialized support to law firms of all sizes from solo attorneys, to firms with multiple office locations.
What an Answering Service for Lawyers Handles
Calls to laws firms typically fall into several categories. A good legal answering service has a specialized plan in place for these categories.
New-case intake
Your intake questions, asked in order: case type, key facts, dates, location and contact details, delivered in the same format every time.
Urgent calls
An arrest, a protective order or a deadline you define. Agents follow your escalation list until the attorney on call has been reached.
Consultation scheduling
Consults booked on your calendar, or sent to your staff as requests to confirm, so a client doesn’t wait for a callback.
Existing client calls
Current clients reach a live person who takes a clear message and tells them when to expect a callback, instead of a full voicemail box.
Courts, counsel and vendors
Calls from courts, opposing counsel and vendors are answered professionally and routed or logged following your firm’s procedures.
Spanish-speaking callers
Bilingual agents take the full intake in Spanish, live. Callers are not routed to a phone menu or translation line.
How a Law Firm Answering Service Handles a New-Case Call
Here is how a call from a potential client is handled and the information delivered to your team.
- Answered in your firm’s name.A live agent answers using your firm’s greeting, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
- Sorted by call type.Using your firm’s instructions determines whether this is a new case, a current client, an urgent matter, or a routine question.
- Intake by your script.For a new case, the agent asks your qualifying questions and records opposing party names so you can run conflicts. Agents don’t give legal advice and never tell a caller whether they have a case.
- Routed by your rules.Urgent calls go to the attorney on call by live phone patch, a call to their cell or a secure text. Consults can be scheduled on the spot.
- Delivered right away.The completed intake arrives by secure text, email or the client portal. If your case management software has an API, we can build an integration so intakes land in it.
The First Call Matters
People usually call a lawyer when they’re dealing with a difficult situation. Make sure that someone is always available to answer, is trained in call handling, and can help the caller take the next step, even if it is after hours.
When your firm’s calls are answered you want to make a good impression because this initial conversation can determine whether the caller decides to work with your firm.
Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Legal Answering Service
Ask every provider the same questions and compare the answers side by side. These separate a real intake partner from a message service.
- Will agents use our intake script? Your questions, in your order, for each practice area.
- How do you capture conflict details? Opposing parties, dates and locations should come through every time.
- What happens with an urgent call at 2 a.m.? Ask who gets called, how, and what happens if that attorney doesn’t answer.
- Can agents book consultations? On your calendar, or as requests your staff confirms.
- Is Spanish handled by a live agent? For personal injury, immigration and family law, that can decide who gets the case.
- How do intakes reach us? Secure text, email, a client portal, or straight into your case management software.
- Are calls recorded? Know the answer before you sign. Southern Voices does not record calls; every call is documented in a written message.
- How is pricing structured? Per-call plans push agents to rush callers through intake. Ask what you’re paying for.
What a Law Firm Answering Service Costs
Pricing is determined by call volume and the level of detail needed for each call. Taking a message is straightfoward. A call that requires a full intake that consists of conflict questions and/or scheduling a booking take more time.
At Southern Voices, plans start at $33 and you only pay for the time you use. Firms with larger call volume can qualify for volume discounts. We don’t charge per call because different types of calls require different amounts of time. We take the time to make sure that every caller receives the attention they deserve.
See answering service pricing for what goes into a quote. If you’re also comparing broader inbound support, our call center services page covers overflow, appointment setting and customer service.
Plans start at
$33
Your plan is built around your call volume, and larger organizations get volume discounts.
Frequently asked questions
What is a legal answering service?
It’s a team of live agents that answers calls for law firms. Unlike a basic answering service, a legal answering service runs your intake questions, captures conflict details, routes urgent calls to the attorney on call and delivers a complete intake your team can act on.
Is an answering service worth it for law firms?
For most firms that miss calls, yes. Potential clients often call several firms, and the first one to answer has the best chance at the case. Compare the value of one new case with the cost of coverage. Plans at Southern Voices start at $33.
Why do law firms need a legal answering service instead of voicemail?
Voicemail asks a stressed caller to wait. Many won’t. A live agent can take the intake, book a consultation and reach an attorney for urgent matters while the caller is still on the line. Our guide to how many times a phone rings before voicemail shows how short that window is.
Can a law firm answering service use AI instead of people?
Some services do. Legal callers are often upset, and their facts don’t fit neat menu options. Southern Voices answers every call with live, trained agents, with no bots and no voicemail.
Do you offer a bilingual legal answering service?
Yes. Bilingual agents take the entire intake in Spanish, live. The facts you receive are complete because nothing is lost in a menu or a translation line.
How do we get started?
Share your intake criteria and practice areas, approve the script we write, then forward your line after hours, for overflow during the day, or for every call. Agents are trained on your account before go-live. Get a quote and we’ll walk through it with you.
