Online booking for law firms: how to take first consultations
Most new clients contact a law firm the same way: they call or send an email, and then there are a few rounds of back-and-forth before a time is found. That’s time neither the client nor the front office gets anything out of, and a client in a hurry may simply contact the next firm on the list.
Online booking solves part of that. But a law firm can’t just put an open calendar on its website. There are conflicts of interest to check, confidentiality applies, and the first conversation has to land with the lawyer who actually works in that area. Here’s how you can do it.
First consultation: book directly or approve first?
There are two ways to take a first consultation.
Direct booking: The client picks a free time, and it’s confirmed straight away. It’s the fastest for the client, but the time is taken in the calendar before you know who the client is or what the matter is about.
Request to book: The client picks a time and sends a request. You see it, check it, and approve or decline before it’s confirmed. The client still chooses the time, but you have the final say.
For most law firms, request-to-book is right for first consultations, while follow-up meetings with existing clients can be booked directly. Choose a system where you decide this per service, so you don’t have to pick one approach for everything.
Check for conflicts before the time is confirmed
Before you take on a matter, you have to make sure there’s no conflict of interest. That’s easier to do before the first conversation than during it.
With request-to-book, you can build the check into the booking itself:
- Add a question to the booking form for first consultations asking for the name of the other party, if there is one.
- When the request comes in, search your practice management system as usual.
- If there’s no conflict, approve the time. If there is one, decline the request before anything has been agreed.
That way you never confirm a meeting you then have to cancel.
Only ask for what you need
A booking form isn’t the place for the details of the matter. Ask for what you need to prepare and to check for conflicts: name, contact details, practice area and the other party, if any. The client can tell you the rest at the meeting.
That keeps the amount of personal data down, and it makes the form quicker to fill in. If the booking system processes personal data on your behalf, you need a data processing agreement with the provider. Many firms also choose a system where data is stored in the EU.
Let the client book the right lawyer
A client who needs help with an estate shouldn’t be able to book time with your commercial lawyer. Set up your services by practice area, such as family law, wills and estates, or commercial, and link each lawyer to the areas they work in. Once a service is chosen, the client only sees the lawyers who can help.
If you have several offices, give each office its own booking page with its own address and its own lawyers.
In person or online
Many first consultations work well as a video meeting. Decide per service: an in-person meeting shows the office address in the confirmation, and an online meeting gets a Teams link automatically. Then nobody has to remember to send a link afterwards. Teams links usually require the calendar to be connected with a Microsoft 365 work or school account; a personal Outlook.com account isn’t enough.
Free or paid first consultation
Whether the first consultation is free is a business decision. If you charge for it, you can let the client pay a deposit or the full amount when they book. That also cuts the number of clients who don’t turn up.
Checklist: what the booking system should do
- Request-to-book, chosen per service
- A booking form where you set the questions per service, such as the other party
- Services linked to the lawyers who deliver them
- Automatic Teams links for online meetings
- A booking page per office, if you have several
- Reminders to the client before the meeting
- Access control, so not every member of staff sees every client
- Hosting in the EU and a data processing agreement
- Payment at booking, if the first consultation is charged
How to do it in Tempari
Tempari is built for businesses that live off appointments, and law firms are one of them. Choose lawyer when you create your business, and Tempari starts you with services written for a law firm. You can edit or delete any of them.
Then you choose per service whether it needs approval first or books directly, which questions the booking form asks, and whether the meeting is in person or online. Online meetings get a Teams link once you’ve connected your Outlook calendar with a Microsoft 365 work or school account.
Owners and admins see every client, while other staff only see the clients they have met or added themselves. Each office gets its own booking page, and data is stored in the EU with a data processing agreement.
Read more about Tempari for law firms, or see how request-to-book works.
See all features or see the prices. Every plan can be tried free for 30 days, no card required.
