# Client Intake & Engagement Letters: done-for-you AI automation by BufferSol

> A done-for-you client intake and engagement letter automation is an AI agent that answers every new inquiry to your firm, collects the facts and contact details, runs a conflict search in Clio, MyCase or your practice management system, and drafts the engagement letter from your approved templates. BufferSol builds and configures it in your systems. A lawyer or partner reviews the conflict result and approves every letter, and the firm stays responsible for all advice.

- Canonical: https://buffersoltech.com/done-for-you/professional-services/client-intake-engagement
- Category: Law, Accounting & Agencies
- Provider: BufferSol Technologies (New York; serving the US, UK, Ireland, Canada and the EU)
- Timeline: live in 3 to 6 weeks
- Pricing: quoted after a short scoping call

## Every prospective client answered, screened and sent an engagement letter

**Who it is for:** For law firms, accounting and tax practices, and consultancies that get dozens to hundreds of new inquiries a month by web form, email and phone, and where intake still depends on a busy paralegal, assistant or partner.

### Signs you need it
- Web form and email inquiries wait a day or more for a first reply.
- Conflict checks are done by emailing partners or searching the billing system by hand.
- Engagement letters are copied from an old file and edited in Word for each new client.
- New matters get opened before the conflict check or signed letter is on file.
- You cannot say how many inquiries came in last month or how many became clients.

## Business outcomes
- **A prompt, useful first reply.** Prospective clients get an acknowledgment and next steps quickly, with a booking link for a consultation, instead of waiting until someone clears their inbox.
- **Conflicts cleared before work starts.** Every new party name is searched against your client and matter records, and a matter cannot move forward until a lawyer or partner records the conflict decision.
- **Letters out the same day as the decision.** Engagement letters are drafted from your approved templates with the right scope, fee terms and parties, so the reviewer edits and approves rather than writing from scratch.

## How it works today
1. An inquiry arrives through the website form, a referral email or a voicemail, and lands in a shared inbox.
2. A paralegal or assistant replies when they can, asks basic questions by email, and copies the answers into Clio, MyCase or a spreadsheet.
3. For conflicts, they search the system by name and email partners asking whether anyone knows the parties.
4. Once cleared, someone copies an old engagement letter, edits names, scope and fees, and sends it for review.
5. The letter goes out by email or e-signature, and someone chases the client to sign and pay any retainer.

Hidden costs:
- Prospective clients who hear nothing for days hire the firm that answered first.
- Conflict checks by email depend on memory, leave a weak audit trail and can share sensitive details too widely.
- Hand-edited letters drift from the approved wording, creating scope and fee disputes later.

## How it works done for you
1. The agent reads each new inquiry from the web form, inbox or call transcript and sends a prompt acknowledgment with your consultation booking link.
2. It asks the intake questions for that practice area, collects party names, related entities, deadlines and documents, and creates a lead in Clio Grow, MyCase, Karbon or TaxDome.
3. It runs a conflict search on every party and related entity against your client, matter and adverse-party records, and prepares a short report of possible matches.
4. A lawyer or partner reviews the report and records the decision; if anything is unclear, the agent holds the matter and asks for that decision rather than guessing.
5. After clearance, the agent drafts the engagement letter from your approved template with scope, fee terms, responsible attorney or partner and any required disclosures.
6. The reviewer edits and approves the letter, then the agent sends it for e-signature, requests any retainer through your payment tool and opens the matter once both are complete.
7. Every inquiry, answer, conflict search, decision, draft and signature is logged on the matter record.

## What changes for the team
- **Paralegal or intake coordinator.** Today: Answering inquiries, re-typing details, running searches and editing letters one by one. Done for you: Handling sensitive callers, reviewing intake summaries and keeping the consultation calendar full.
- **Attorney or partner.** Today: Answering conflict emails and rewriting engagement letters between client work. Done for you: Reviewing a clear conflict report and a ready draft, then approving or adjusting it.
- **Managing partner or practice manager.** Today: Guessing how many leads came in and why so few signed. Done for you: Reviewing inquiries, consultations, signed letters and lost reasons by source and practice area.

## KPIs we measure
- **Time to first response:** We baseline response time from a sample of recent inquiries in your inbox and form tool, then track every inquiry after launch.
- **Inquiry-to-consultation rate:** We match inquiries to consultations booked in your calendar or practice management system, by source and practice area.
- **Conflict check turnaround:** We measure the time from intake complete to a recorded conflict decision.
- **Decision-to-signed-letter time:** We track the gap between the decision to take the matter and a signed engagement letter on file.
- **Matters opened without full intake:** We count new matters opened without a logged conflict decision or signed letter, aiming for none.

## Industry data
- 67%: of law firms did not respond to emails in Clio's 2024 secret shopper study ([Above the Law](https://abovethelaw.com/2024/10/law-firms-failing-at-the-single-most-basic-lawyering-task/))
- 82%: of consumers rated timeliness of response as the most important factor when looking for a lawyer (Clio Legal Trends Report, 2019) ([Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism (2Civility)](https://www.2civility.org/clio-legal-trends-report-finds-law-firms-arent-responsive-to-potential-clients/))

## Systems it connects to
Clio Manage, Clio Grow, MyCase, Karbon, TaxDome, Canopy, DocuSign, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, Calendly, LawPay

## Guardrails
- The agent never gives legal, tax or accounting advice; it collects facts, books consultations and tells prospects that a professional will review their matter.
- No matter is opened and no engagement letter is sent without a recorded conflict decision and approval from a lawyer or partner.
- Letters are drafted only from templates your firm approves, and any change to scope or fee terms needs a reviewer's sign-off.
- Intake data is stored in your own systems with role-based access, and sensitive details are not shared beyond the people who need them.
- Every message, search, decision and signature is logged for your ethics and risk records.

## What teams say about this work
- In a secret shopper test, most law firms did not reply to an emailed inquiry from a prospective client, and many failed to answer or return calls, a worse result than five years earlier. ([Above the Law](https://abovethelaw.com/2024/10/law-firms-failing-at-the-single-most-basic-lawyering-task/))
- More than half of firms tested did not return voicemails within 72 hours, and most email and phone responses were judged unsatisfactory by the people asking for help. ([Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism (2Civility)](https://www.2civility.org/clio-legal-trends-report-finds-law-firms-arent-responsive-to-potential-clients/))
- Conflict checks done by emailing partners rely on memory of corporate structures, can expose sensitive details, and leave a poor audit trail, while engagement letters are still drafted by hand. ([Intapp](https://www.intapp.com/blog/optimizing-law-firm-conflicts-checks-and-client-intake/))

## Delivery: live in 3 to 6 weeks
1. Week 1: discovery, access and a baseline of today's numbers.
2. Weeks 2–3: build the agents and connect your systems, with your rules and approvals.
3. Weeks 3–5: test on your real history, then pilot on live work with your team reviewing.
4. Weeks 4–6: staged go-live, training, dashboards and handover.

## Executive Ask questions for this workflow
- How many new inquiries came in last week, and how many are still waiting for a first reply?
- Which practice area turns the most consultations into signed engagement letters?
- Which matters are waiting on a conflict decision, and who needs to sign off?

## Frequently asked questions
### Does the AI give legal or tax advice to prospective clients?
No. The agent collects facts, answers questions about your process, fees policy and availability from text you approve, and books consultations. It tells every prospect that a lawyer or accountant will review their matter, and it routes anything that sounds like a request for advice to your team. Your professionals stay fully responsible for the advice, the conflict decision and the terms of each engagement.

### How does the conflict check work?
The agent searches every party, related entity and known alias against your client, matter and adverse-party records in Clio, MyCase or your practice management system, and lists possible matches with the reason for each. It does not clear conflicts. A lawyer or partner reviews the report and records the decision, and the matter stays on hold until that decision is logged.

### How long does it take to go live?
Most firms are live in 3 to 6 weeks. We start with your intake questions by practice area, conflict rules, engagement letter templates and approval steps. Then we connect your website forms, inbox, practice management and e-signature tools, test on recent real inquiries with your intake team, and run a supervised period where every draft and message is reviewed.

### What does it cost?
Cost depends on inquiry volume, how many practice areas and letter templates you use, and which systems we connect. A two-lawyer firm and a multi-office accounting practice need very different setups, so we do not publish a price. Pricing is quoted after a short scoping call where we review your current intake steps and tools.

### Is client data kept confidential?
Yes. The agent works inside your own accounts and stores intake details in your practice management system, not a separate database. Access follows your existing user roles, sensitive fields are limited to the people who need them, and every action is logged. We agree data handling terms with your firm before the build and can work within your bar or professional body guidance.