The fix: a live answer, a conflict check, a signature
An injured person calls when they decide to, often at night or on a weekend. Set up intake so that call ends with a signed agreement:
- Answer live, around the clock. A person or answering service picks up; a missed call gets a call back within minutes, from a local number, followed by a text.
- Check conflicts before the story. Take names of the people involved first. The ABA model rule's comment says a lawyer should "limit the initial consultation to only such information as reasonably appears necessary" to decide whether to take the matter (ABA Rule 1.18, Comment 4).
- Qualify in one script. When and where it happened, the injury, treatment so far, who was at fault, any insurer already involved, any other lawyer already hired.
- Send the agreement during the call. A contingency fee must be in writing: "A contingent fee agreement shall be in a writing signed by the client" (ABA Rule 1.5(c)). An e-signature link lets them sign before they hang up.
- Record where each lead came from. Ad, search, referral or sign. That's how you know which marketing signs cases.
How many law firms miss the call?
About half. In 2024 Clio had a research agency, Lux, email and phone 500 law firms with a client inquiry (Clio, 2024 Legal Trends Report):
| Contact | Firms that responded |
|---|---|
| 33% (40% in 2019) | |
| Phone, answered live | 40% (56% in 2019) |
| Phone, answered or called back | 52% |
That means 48% "were essentially unreachable by phone" (Clio). The study covered firms of all practice areas, not only personal injury.
Calling back leaks too. At an accounting firm we run marketing for, in October 2026, 55% of first calls to people who had booked went unanswered and 41% of bookers never spoke to the firm. 81 of 86 outbound calls showed a toll-free caller ID, and nobody followed a missed call with a text or email.
Is calling or texting a lead back solicitation?
Not under the ABA model rule, if they contacted you first.
"A lawyer's communication is not a solicitation if it is directed to the general public, such as through a billboard, an Internet banner advertisement, a website or a television commercial, or if it is in response to a request for information or is automatically generated in response to electronic searches." (ABA Rule 7.3, Comment 1)
Reaching out first is different. The model rule bans live in-person and phone solicitation for profit (Comments 1–2). It treats texts as written, not live, contact (Comment 2), but states add their own limits. Florida, for one, requires a wait of "at least 30 days after the injury, death, accident or disaster" before a written solicitation about it (The Florida Bar). Your state bar's version of these rules is the one that applies.
Who answers at 9 pm?
Pick one and test it monthly by calling as a client:
| Option | Good for | Watch |
|---|---|---|
| Your own intake staff in shifts | Full control of the script | Cost of nights and weekends |
| Legal answering service | Live voice at any hour | Script must collect conflict names first, and stop short of legal advice |
| AI receptionist | Answers every call at once, books the consult | Hand urgent or upset callers to a person; check call-recording consent (see AI receptionist) |
| Voicemail, call back next morning | Lowest cost | Nobody speaks to the caller until morning |
Whoever answers, the firm stays responsible. The model rule requires measures giving "reasonable assurance that the person's conduct is compatible with the professional obligations of the lawyer" (ABA Rule 5.3(a)).
Canada
Each provincial and territorial law society sets its own conduct rules. The Federation of Law Societies' Model Code has no solicitation rule like ABA 7.3; its marketing rule lists "taking advantage of a vulnerable person or group" as marketing that may break it (Model Code 4.2-1, Commentary 1). The Federation's Interactive Model Code "links each rule in the Model Code to the matching or related rule of every law society in Canada" (FLSC). Check your society's rules before contacting anyone who hasn't contacted you.
A text or email to a lead in Canada also falls under CASL. Their inquiry gives you 6 months of implied consent (CASL, s. 10(10)(e)); see CASL consent.
Example
A Saturday-night car crash call
A caller rings at 11 pm. The answering service takes the other driver's name, runs it against the firm's conflict list, books a call with a lawyer for 9 am Sunday and texts the confirmation. The lawyer sends the fee agreement during that call and it's signed by 9:40.
A web form at lunch
A slip-and-fall form arrives at 12:15. Intake calls at 12:17 and gets voicemail, then texts: "This is Jane at Smith Injury Law, you asked about your fall. Call or reply here." The lead replies at 12:40.
A firm testing its own line
A firm spending USD 10,000 a month on ads has a friend call five times over a week. Two calls go to voicemail after 6 pm. It moves after-hours calls to an answering service before raising the ad budget.
Different for you?
- Answering speed for any service business: speed to lead.
- Running Google Ads or Local Services Ads as a law firm: Google Ads for lawyers.
- What your website may say about results and testimonials: law firm website advertising rules.
- Letting AI answer calls: AI receptionist for a small business.
- Texting leads back after a missed call: missed-call text back and consent.
- Texting or emailing leads in Canada: CASL consent.
- Answering and following up every lead: Conversion agent.