Wendy Inge's Blog

Recently a lawyer called to ask whether or not intake forms are useful. As is often the case the answer to that is “it depends.”

A basic intake form that is very general in content may do little to improve your intake process. But a well thought out intake form focused on a particular practice area can be very beneficial for streamlining and gathering useful information from the client.

To be used effectively you should develop a different intake form for different areas of practice. This will allow you to obtain the types of information required for each area of practice. For example, if you practice in wills and trusts, business formation, and family law, these areas each require different types of information. In a wills and trusts matter, it is critical to have an accurate list of assets owned by the client, evaluations, and tax implication information; in domestic matters it is important to know how long the parties have been married, number of children, work information, social security information; in a business formation it is important to know the nature of the business, who is contributing what, the terms of any agreement between the parties, and proprietary property if any. Having a well-developed intake form allows you to specifically identify and focus on what information you will need for the particular type of representation. It should be a work in progress that is revised and improved upon over time.

A well thought out intake form can also help you identify other legal services the client may need. For example, intellectual property or trade mark issues may come up when setting up a business. If your firm can provide these services presently or at a later date, good; otherwise the client may appreciate an explanation of the additional legal needs and a referral to another lawyer. If you are representing an existing client on a new matter, it is good procedure to use a new intake form for that particular matter.

Also, the use of an intake form serves the important purpose of documenting the information provided by the client. Whether the client fills out the intake form, or the lawyer does; it is important to review the information with the client and have them sign off that it is accurate. It is not uncommon for a client to fail to disclose assets relevant to an estate plan, or misspell names, or provide other incorrect information. Thus, signing or initialing intake information by a client can help protect the lawyer where incorrect information was provided by the client. Note that it is important for the lawyer to always check the intake information against other sources of information received in an effort to catch errors, but there are times when the error has been solely created by the client.

Finally, regarding intake forms on the firm’s web site, I encourage lawyers to limit the amount of information that a “prospective client” can provide be it by website or otherwise. Until an engagement agreement is executed you should avoid taking actions that could cause the client to believe that you are representing them. While disclaimers on a web site can help control this (click troughs’ are best), it is still wise to be careful about the amount of information you are collecting from a “prospective client.” In most jurisdictions, Rule 1.18 creates certain duties of confidentiality and a conflict maybe created by the information received even if you decide not to represent the “prospective client.” 

You can download a sample intake form created by ALPS here (Word doc).

Wendy Inge, Esq. is the Virginia Risk Manager for ALPS. She is available to answer risk management questions at no charge for all members of the VSB. She can be reached at 1- 800-367-2577 or winge@alpsnet.com.