AI receptionist for law firms: what it should and shouldn't do
An AI receptionist can be genuinely useful to a small law firm: it answers when the office is closed, books consultations into a real calendar and writes a clean summary of every call. But a law firm is not a dental practice. Every caller is a possible client with duties attached, so the tool needs firmer limits than it would elsewhere.
Here is where we would draw the lines.
What an AI receptionist should do
- Answer the routine questions. Office hours, location, parking, which areas of law the firm handles, what to bring to a first meeting.
- Book consultations into the attorney's real calendar, with the right length and buffers.
- Take the minimum intake. Name, contact details, the general type of matter and the names of the other parties, so a person can run a conflict check before anyone hears the details.
- Hand over gracefully. Pass the call or message to a person whenever the caller is distressed, the matter is urgent or the caller simply asks.
- Write it all down. A short written summary of every conversation, sent to the person who handles intake.
What it should never do
- Give legal advice, even general-sounding advice. "That sounds like you have a strong case" is advice.
- Accept a matter or imply that the firm represents the caller.
- Quote fees or outcomes it has not been given word for word.
- Invite the caller to tell the whole story. The less a prospective client discloses before a conflict check, the better for everyone.
- Pretend to be a person. Tell callers at the start that they are speaking with an automated assistant.
The ethics rules that apply
In July 2024 the ABA issued Formal Opinion 512, its first ethics guidance on lawyers' use of generative AI tools. It is worth reading in full before you choose any AI product. Three Model Rules matter most for an AI receptionist:
- Rule 1.6, Confidentiality of Information. Know where call recordings and transcripts are stored, who can see them and whether the vendor uses them for anything else.
- Rule 1.18, Duties to Prospective Client. People who consult the firm about a possible matter are owed duties even if the firm never takes the case. That is the main reason to keep intake short until conflicts are cleared.
- Rule 5.3, Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer Assistance. The firm supervises what its assistants do, and an AI tool is best treated the same way: set its instructions, check its work, correct it.
Your state's version of the rules governs, and Maryland lawyers should read the Maryland Attorneys' Rules of Professional Conduct alongside the ABA's guidance. If the tool would ever make outbound calls, note that the FCC has confirmed its robocall rules apply to AI-generated voices.
Questions to put to any vendor
- Where are recordings, transcripts and summaries stored, for how long, and can we delete them?
- Is our data used to train or improve the vendor's models? Get the answer in the contract, not just a sales call.
- Can we write and approve every answer it gives about our practice and fees?
- How does it hand a call to a person, and what happens if no one picks up?
- Can we see a log of every conversation?
A sensible way to start
Start narrow. Let the assistant handle after-hours calls and routine questions for a month, with a person reading every summary each morning. Tighten its answers where it wanders. Only then let it book consultations directly. The firms that get value from these tools are the ones that treat them like a new hire on probation. For the wider comparison with a live service, see AI receptionist or virtual receptionist: which is right for a small firm?
Where Bay House fits
We build AI assistants for small firms, including law practices, on the written side: enquiries that arrive by email and through the website, prompt follow-up and a morning summary of every open lead. Our assistants draft; a person approves. Nothing is sent without your approval, and the firm decides what the assistant may and may not say. One Assistant starts from $6,000 and an assistant suite from $15,000; see our pricing. This article is general information, not legal or ethics advice; your bar's ethics counsel is the right call for a specific question.
Common questions
Can a law firm use an AI receptionist ethically?
Yes, if the firm understands the tool, protects confidential information, supervises what it says and keeps a lawyer responsible for every decision. The ABA's Formal Opinion 512 is the starting point for lawyers using generative AI.
Should an AI receptionist tell callers it is not a person?
Yes. Say so plainly at the start, and let the caller reach a person whenever they ask. Honesty about what the caller is talking to protects the firm and the caller.
Can an AI receptionist do conflict checks?
It can collect the names a conflict check needs and pass them to a person. The check itself, and the decision to take a matter, should stay with the firm.
