The Boundary

The line between intake and the attorney

Intake explains the process and guides the next step. The attorney owns everything that is legal advice. Here is how to keep that line clear on every call.

Four rules

Always explain the process: what the consultation is, how long it takes, what it costs and what happens next.
Always use the caller's own words: repeat back what they said matters to them rather than interpreting it.
Never step into the attorney's territory: whether the caller has a case, what to say or not say to an insurer or adverse party, what to do about a claim, or how the law applies.
Use the hand-off line: a fixed sentence that sends the legal question to the attorney and tells the caller what intake will do with it.

What this looks like on a call

Most of the risk is in six questions that come up on nearly every call. Four are legal questions. Two are not, and a desk that treats them as legal questions loses consultations for nothing.

The caller asks	Intake does	Why
"Do I have a case?"	Hand off	Whether a case exists is a legal judgment.
"Should I talk to the insurance company?"	Hand off	What to say to an adverse party is advice.
"Has the deadline passed?"	Hand off, and move the date up	How deadlines apply is the law. Getting the caller in sooner is process.
"What is it worth?"	Hand off	Valuing a matter is evaluation.
"What does the consultation cost?"	Answer plainly	The fee is the firm's policy, not a legal question. A dodge here loses the call without protecting anyone.
"What happens at the consultation?"	Answer plainly	Explaining the process is exactly what intake is for.

The hand-off line

It does three things in one breath: it names the question as the attorney's, it tells the caller it will not be lost, and it ends on a next step.

"That is exactly the question for the attorney, and I do not want to guess at it. I am writing it down so she has it in front of her and goes through it with you at the consultation. Would Thursday at ten or Friday at two be easier?"

Each firm sets its own wording with the attorney. What matters is that everyone on the desk says the same sentence every time, so nobody has to improvise under pressure.

Why this matters

The caller is often under pressure and will ask intake what to do. A kind answer from a non-lawyer can cross the line. A scripted hand-off protects the caller, the firm and the attorney, and it still moves the call forward because it ends with a clear next step.

The full framework, with the hand-off line and more examples, is on the UPL boundary framework page. Scope, plainly: everything on this site concerns the conversation that turns an inquiry into an engagement. Nothing here is legal advice, nothing touches the legal work or the attorney's judgment, and any wording a firm adopts is reviewed by the firm against its jurisdiction's rules on attorney advertising, solicitation and fee communication before it is used.

About the Author

Dr. Jeffrey Scott Stanton, DCH is a behavioral strategist and the founder and Chief Learning Officer of R2R Diagnostic Group. He is the former EVP of Learning & Development at Douglas Elliman Real Estate, where he trained sales professionals on the conversations that turn an inquiry into a commitment. He applies the same method, the R2R Assessment and a 14-item call-review scorecard, to law firm intake teams. The work is the conversation only; legal questions and judgment stay with the attorney.

More on the method, the scripts, the dialogues and the scorecard is on the legal intake pages at jeffreyscottstanton.com.

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