What’s the core requirement to practice law? Beyond a touch of ego, it’s simple — you need a client. Even if that “client” is conveniently fabricated to take advantage of certain legal loopholes, the profession still revolves around having someone to represent. And, of course, if you want to make money, you need that client even more.
But according to Clio’s 2024 Legal Trends Report, many law firms are failing spectacularly at this basic task. The report reveals that an alarming number of firms are literally ignoring potential clients.
Using a “secret shopper” approach—similar to one conducted in 2019—Clio contacted 1,000 law firms by email and 500 by phone to see how they handled inquiries from prospective clients. The results were worse than before.
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67% of firms never replied to emails—a drop from the already poor response rate in 2019.
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48% failed to answer phone calls or return messages—nearly 20% worse than the last study.
Even when firms did respond, the quality was lacking. Only 2% of responses referenced relevant case law or similar situations that could help the prospective client—down from 27% in 2019. This not only damages a firm’s reputation but also eliminates the chance of building long-term trust or earning referrals.
Firms spend heavily on marketing to attract leads, yet lose them because of inadequate intake processes. That first point of contact can determine whether someone becomes a client or walks away—possibly to try resolving their legal issue on their own or using tools like ChatGPT.
While some firms are experimenting with AI tools like chatbots to handle initial contact, adoption remains low. Only 7% of firms use them, despite 61% of surveyed clients saying they’d be open to starting with a chatbot—so long as they know a human will follow up. Other solutions include automated intake forms or virtual receptionist services like Smith.ai or Ruby.
No matter the method, the takeaway is clear: if law firms want clients, they have to actually answer them.