A law firm client intake form clients actually finish (free template)

The intake form comes back on a Tuesday afternoon. It has been printed, filled in with a biro, photographed at an angle on a kitchen table and emailed as a 4 MB image. The date of birth box is empty, the other side's name is spelled two ways, and page three is missing.

Somebody in your office will now retype it into your case management system, then phone the client to ask for the rest. On a busy week that happens six or seven times.

Most of that work is the form's fault, not the client's. A law firm client intake form that people actually finish is short, asks one thing at a time, and opens on a phone without a download.

What a law firm client intake form needs to ask

An intake form has three jobs. It tells you who the client is and how to reach them. It gives you enough about the matter to decide whether you can take it. And it collects the names you need for a conflict check before anyone hears confidential detail.

That third job is the one firms most often leave until a phone call. If the other party's name is on the form, you can run the check before the first meeting rather than halfway through it.

Keep the form to what you need to open a file, not everything you will need by the end of the matter. Documents, ID and the long history can come later, through a safer route.

What you must collect for identity checks and anti-money laundering depends on where you practise and the work you do. In England and Wales, start with the SRA's money laundering guidance. In the US, check your state bar's rules. We don't give advice on either.

A free intake template you can copy

Here is a starting template. Change the matter types to fit your practice, and cut any question you don't use within the first week.

1. Your full name
2. Email address and phone number
3. How would you prefer us to contact you? (email, phone, text)
4. Postal address
5. What kind of matter is this? (for example: property, family, employment, wills and probate, dispute, business)
6. In a few sentences, what has happened and what would you like to achieve?
7. Is there a date or deadline we should know about?
8. Names of any other people or organisations involved, including the other side
9. Has another solicitor or lawyer advised you on this matter?
10. How did you hear about us?

We would keep it to about ten questions. Question 6 does the most work, so give it a large text box and a plain prompt. Question 8 is your conflict check.

Leave out bank details, ID numbers and anything you would not want sitting in a spreadsheet. Those belong in a document request, not an intake form.

Turning the template into a link clients finish

A PDF or Word form asks the client to download, print or edit a file. A link asks them to tap and type, which is why it gets finished.

With TinyX questionnaires you write the form in markdown, much like the list above, and share it as a short link. Clients answer without signing up, on any device. Responses come into your dashboard and export to CSV, so they can go straight into your case notes or practice management system.

You can put a password on the questionnaire and limit how many responses it takes, which suits a form meant for one client. A new response can also fire a webhook, so your team gets a message in Slack or another tool as soon as an enquiry lands.

The Free plan includes five questionnaires. Pro and Max raise that, and the current numbers are on the pricing page.

What happens to the answers

Intake answers are personal data, so you should know exactly where they go. We would rather tell you plainly.

On every plan, questionnaire responses are not end-to-end encrypted and stay on TinyX, with the respondent's IP address and location, until you delete them.

So treat the form as a front door, not a vault. Ask for what you need to open the matter and run a conflict check, and delete responses once they are in your own system. If you have a privacy notice, check with whoever maintains it whether it should mention the form.

Getting documents back after intake

Once you have taken the matter on, you will need documents: ID, proof of address, contracts, correspondence. That is where most firms fall back to email attachments.

TinyX upload links let the client send files straight to you through a link, with a password and a limit on uploads. If you turn on the option to require encryption, which also needs a password, files are encrypted in the client's browser before they leave their device. Without it, uploads aren't end-to-end encrypted. Upload links come with Pro and Max only.

If you are on the Free plan, you can still send documents out on a password-protected link that expires, and ask clients to post or bring originals. Our secure file sharing guide for law firms covers both directions in more detail.

Questions firms ask before switching

Do clients need an account to fill in the form? No. They open the link and answer.

Can I use my own questions instead of the template? Yes. The template is a starting point, and you write the form yourself in markdown.

Can I get the responses into a spreadsheet? Yes, as a CSV export from your dashboard.

Can the form tell us when a new enquiry arrives? Yes. Each new response can trigger a webhook.

Where to start

Copy the template, cut it to the questions you really use, and build it as a questionnaire on the Free plan. Send it to your next new enquiry instead of the PDF, and compare how much of it comes back filled in.