7 Reasons Criminal Defense Law Firms Need a Seamless Client Intake System

1. Handle Multiple Cases Simultaneously

Obviously, how many cases your criminal defense law firm takes on simultaneously will depend on the size of the court you are working in and the size of your firm. Generally, private criminal defense firms could easily handle 50 or more cases at a time. Of course, other firms could have even more demand and be juggling 200 cases simultaneously. Regardless of how many cases you handle on a regular basis, having an optimized client intake system in place will help you oversee all your client cases and evaluate their situations properly, staying on top of your customer service from the outset. 

2. Organization: Keeping All Information in Order

A good client intake system will make order out of what is often chaotic, meaning it will properly organize client information for your firm. This will ensure that you are organized and on top of things from your very first interaction with a potential client. It will help you gather all pertinent information pertaining to clients’ cases, including their personal information, as well as documents and the other details you need to move forward with their case. Having this process properly organized is immensely important, as lost data or information that is inaccurately entered can cause substantial strategic errors, which is something you want to avoid at all costs. A good client intake system will also ensure that all client information is accessible by team members working on the case, yet protect it from falling into the wrong hands. It can also allow you to edit case data in one location, and those changes can be viewable throughout your firm (for those given access), simplifying the entire process so you can easily update, change, and access client information. 

3. Nurturing: Helping with Client Engagement

Another important part of a good client intake process is the fact that it helps you nurture your relationship with your clients from the very beginning. Often, when clients reach out to you for help with a criminal case, they face an uncertain future. They are likely scared and unsure and simply looking for some reassurance that someone is on their side. Thankfully, a good client intake process will ensure that they feel valued and heard. It starts from the very initial contact by following up with clients automatically and prompting their next steps. In other words, you won’t ever have to worry about a potential client falling through the cracks simply because their information got misplaced, or a team member didn’t have a chance to give them a return call. Having these tasks handled helps you build trust with clients and gives you more time to focus on other aspects of their cases so you can hopefully achieve a positive outcome in court. 

4. Personalization CRM: Client Relationship Management Software

A seamless client intake system is part of a good CRM software system. This software can change the daily operations of your law firm in many notable ways. A good CRM software system will help you personalize emails, messages, and court reminders, among other tasks. It allows you to give each and every client the individualized and personalized attention they deserve by keeping everything orderly and guiding each client through your intake process and more. Although the messages might be automated, so you don’t forget to send them, this software will allow you to personalize the messages you send and can even allow you to send messages from your computer to your clients via SMS text or email. 

4. Lead Management, Improving Your Firm’s Appeal

An automated legal client intake system will also help your firm stand out among others within your legal field. Within the immensely crowded legal arena, if you don’t respond quickly to inquiries or follow up quickly with clients, they are likely to move on to another firm for help. It is considered best practice for a firm to respond to any client inquiry within 24 hours. This isn’t always possible when you are super busy with client cases. Thankfully, a client intake process will generate automated responses to all client inquiries and ensure they get a response from your firm. This will help you nurture leads and increase your firm’s appeal in terms of new client interactions and relationship building. 

6. Integrations With Other Platforms

A seamless client intake system will also work well with the platforms or tools you are already using to operate your business. In other words, integrating a good CRM system and client intake process into your firm’s daily tasks should make using the platforms you are already using easier, not harder. In fact, in many cases, how a CRM system works with your existing tools is often one of the most important considerations when evaluating its worth. Thankfully, a good system will work alongside and integrate with various tools like document software, such as Office 365, your practice management software, and your existing email. The idea when integrating a new system into place is not to overhaul everything but to take what is working well and make it even more effective while providing improvements overall. 

7. Takes Care of Tedious, Redundant Tasks

A great deal of the traditional client intake process involves redundant data entry. This demands valuable time from team members in order to get the necessary information from clients and into your firm’s system. It often comes along with human error, leading to double entry or data loss. Thankfully, though, a client intake system will take over this tedious task and prompt clients to enter important information. It will then categorize it and allow you and your team to access it easily and alter it universally, so everyone on the team can see exactly what’s going on in each and every case easily and efficiently. In fact, using client intake software through a CRM system will almost certainly reduce input errors and save your firm countless hours of work by replacing these manual administrative tasks. 

Contact Us at Law Ruler

Contact us at Law Ruler and schedule a demo of our legal CRM services, which includes an optimized client intake system. You will never again have to worry about a client falling through the cracks or information getting lost, as this software will guide your clients from their initial contact with your criminal defense firm to the completion of their case.