Answering Legal

A missed call can mean a lost client for a law firm, and Answering Legal was built to stop that happening. It is a telephone answering service that works only for lawyers, with receptionists based in the United States who handle calls around the clock, every day of the year, in English or Spanish. The company says other services send calls offshore or treat a legal caller like someone ringing an electrician, and that it does neither.

Message taking set by the firm

The company puts weight on the way messages are taken. Receptionists follow a detailed, systematic process so every message holds the information a lawyer needs, and each firm decides what that is. Some ask for the caller's name and number, the type of case and a full message. Others want the whole new client intake completed and passed on by text or email. The setup starts with a few questions, for example whether new clients should be patched straight through, whether intake should be done for a new bankruptcy case, or whether an existing client should just leave a name, number and message. The answers can be changed at any hour.

Intake and routing

Every new caller can receive a legal intake from receptionists trained to perform it. When a lawyer is free, the receptionist announces the caller and transfers the call. When not, the receptionist asks for the details and sends them on. New clients are treated differently from existing ones: usually a name and number are taken, the caller is placed on brief hold, and the lawyer is told who is calling and asked whether to take it. The firm can pre-set how calls are answered, scripted and routed, and emergencies or calls from judges and other lawyers can be patched to the lawyer wherever they are.

Other things the service does

• overflow handling when the firm is already on another call
• scheduling and cancelling appointments, including consultations booked onto a calendar
• messages sent by both text and email, with the caller ID attached to the email
• integrations with tools a firm already uses and a mobile app for follow-up
• help tracking Local Services Ads leads
• an AI chatbot for the firm's website, trained on the firm's own information and branded to look native
• live translation on video or phone calls in many languages, through a related service

The company also contrasts itself with voicemail: a voicemail only records, while its receptionists can do the work of a legal receptionist and answer only after the firm has missed a call. A seven day trial is offered, with no card required and cancellation at any time, so a firm can test its chosen message-taking rules on real calls first.

Answering Legal is a telephone answering service built specifically for law firms, staffed by US-based, bilingual virtual receptionists who answer calls around the clock.

What Answering Legal offers

• Live call answering: receptionists answer every call and can transfer it straight through when a lawyer is available.
• Legal intake: trained staff run new-client intake interviews and pass structured messages on by text or email.
• Customisable message taking: lets firms decide exactly what information is captured for each type of caller.
• Appointment scheduling: books and reschedules client consultations directly onto a firm's calendar.
• AI chatbot: an AI-powered chat tool captures web leads outside of phone calls.
• Bilingual support: handles calls in English and Spanish.

Clients

Works exclusively with law firms and attorneys, including firms handling bankruptcy cases.