Legal intake software that gets you to yes or no faster.

What legal intake software is

Legal intake is everything that happens between a new enquiry and your decision to take or decline the case: who called, what happened, who else is involved, whether you can act, and how long you have. Intake software keeps all of that in one place, so the facts don't sit in a notepad, a voicemail or one person's memory.

For a small firm, intake software usually does four jobs. It records the enquiry in a consistent form. It runs a conflict check against everyone the firm has acted for or against. It captures the dates that matter, especially the statute of limitations. And when you take the case, it opens a matter with everything already filled in.

Why intake matters for a small firm

People who have been hurt often call more than one firm. The firm that calls back first, with a clear answer, is usually the one they choose. That's the client experience at its simplest: a fast, organized response from someone who already has the facts in front of them.

Intake is also where risk starts. A missed conflict can cost you the case and more. A limitation date that nobody wrote down can cost the client their claim. And facts typed into an email at intake and then typed again into the case file are facts that can be typed wrong.

What to look for in legal intake software

• A short, consistent form. The details every enquiry in your practice needs, in the order you ask for them, so anyone at the firm can take the call.
• A conflict check across the whole firm. Open and closed matters, people and companies, and their role on each matter. Exact-match searches aren't enough: the check should catch close spellings like Kowalski and Kowalsky.
• Sources for every match. You should see where each possible conflict came from, so a lawyer can decide quickly.
• A limitation date on day one. A suggested date from the incident date and state, clearly marked as a suggestion until a lawyer confirms it.
• One step from enquiry to matter. When you take the case, parties, dates and notes should carry across without re-typing.
• A record of declined enquiries. Declined callers are still people you've spoken to, and they may matter for future conflict checks.
• Security that fits client information. Required two-factor sign-in, an audit log and a clear answer about whether your data trains anyone's AI.

How Meruit handles intake

Meruit's intake and conflict check is built for a small personal injury firm's front desk. Your team records the enquiry while the caller is on the line: the client's details, the incident date and state, what happened, other parties such as the other driver, and the insurer and claim number if known.

As soon as the enquiry is saved, Meruit checks every name against every contact and party in the firm, on open and closed matters alike, including close spellings. Each possible match shows the person's role and the matter it came from. Meruit finds the matches; a lawyer decides whether they are conflicts.

Meruit also suggests a limitation date from a state-by-state table of general personal injury periods. It stays a suggestion until a named lawyer confirms it, and then it appears in the firm-wide deadline list. When you take the case, one step converts the enquiry into a matter with everything carried across. If you decline it, that's recorded too.

Intake is part of every plan, including the free Essentials plan. What Meruit doesn't do yet: web intake forms that clients fill in themselves, and a 24/7 intake assistant for chat and text. Both are on our roadmap, and when they arrive they'll collect facts and share lawyer-approved information only. They won't give legal advice.