AI receptionist for law firms
An AI receptionist on a legal line is a different product from the one a trade business uses. This guide sets out what it does on each call, the rules it has to follow, where it beats a human answering service and where it does not, and the questions worth asking any vendor before you switch one on.
What an AI receptionist does on a call
The receptionist answers in the firm's name and tells the caller the call is being transcribed. It asks what the call is about and listens to the answer. From there it does one of four things: puts the caller through to a lawyer with a one-line summary, books an appointment into the diary, takes a message with a call-back time, or ends a call that was never going to be a client. On EzyBiz Lex the whole call is then written up as a summary and a transcript and filed to the matter.
The part that matters for a law firm is what it does with the record. A human answering service emails a note that someone has to read, decide about and copy into the practice management system. An AI receptionist that is connected to Smokeball, Clio or SharePoint writes the file note itself, so the enquiry is on the matter before anyone at the firm has looked at it.
The rules it has to follow
These are the rules EzyBiz Lex is built around. Any AI receptionist for a law firm should be able to show you the same list.
- No advice. The receptionist can say what the firm does and how to make an appointment. It cannot say whether the caller has a case.
- No disclosure without verified identity. A number match is enough to greet someone by name. It is not enough to discuss a file. Nothing about a matter, including whether it exists, is disclosed to an unverified caller.
- No confirming who is a client. The answer to "do you act for X" is the same whether the firm does or not.
- Transcription disclosed at the start. Every caller is told.
- Nothing sent to a client without a person. For text messages, the service drafts a reply from the conversation so far and the lawyer reads it, changes it and sends it.
- No time recorded for the receptionist's minutes. A lawyer cannot bill a client for an AI qualifying an enquiry. On EzyBiz Lex time is captured for the lawyer's part of a call only, and only when the firm turns time capture on.
Where it beats a human answering service, and where it does not
An AI receptionist picks up on the first ring at 2am, takes ten calls at once, and never mishears a matter number because it has the contact's matter on screen before it answers. It costs a fixed amount a month rather than a per-call fee, and it writes the file note instead of an email. Those are real advantages for a small firm that cannot staff a front desk around the clock.
A good human receptionist reads a distressed caller better, handles the caller who refuses to speak to a machine, and can exercise judgement about who the principal would want interrupted. EzyBiz Lex is designed so you keep that judgement where it matters: in Screen mode the receptionist greets and qualifies, and genuine callers are put through to a person.
Questions to ask any vendor
- Where are the transcripts stored, and under which privacy law? For an Australian firm the answer should be Australian data centres, the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles.
- Is the caller told the call is transcribed, every time?
- What will it say when a caller asks about a matter? The right answer is that it says nothing until identity has been verified, and that it says the same nothing whether the matter exists or not.
- Where does the record land? An email inbox is not a file. Ask whether it files to the matter in your practice management system, and what it does with a caller it cannot match to a matter.
- Who owns the number? You should be able to bring your own number, or take a new one with you if you leave.
- Is time recorded for the AI's minutes? It should not be.
How EzyBiz Lex answers those questions
EzyBiz Lex is built in Melbourne by Avocado for Australian law firms. Calls, transcripts and messages are stored in Australian data centres. Every caller is told at the start of the call that it is being transcribed. Nothing about a matter is disclosed to an unverified caller. Records file to the matter in Smokeball or Clio as a finished file note, or into a SharePoint library under the contact, and a call the service cannot match to a matter waits in a queue in the app for someone to file with one tap. You can port your number in or take a new Australian number, and it is yours. Time is captured for the lawyer's part of a call only, and only if the firm switches time capture on.
Questions lawyers ask first
Is it a bot? My clients will hate it.
It answers as your firm, with your services, your hours and your rules about what it will not discuss, and it puts genuine callers straight through to you. What clients dislike is voicemail.
Does the AI receptionist give legal advice?
Never. It captures the enquiry, the caller's details and what they need, files it to the matter, and you decide what happens next.
Can it check conflicts?
No. Conflict checks are for the firm. The receptionist collects the names and the nature of the matter so the check can be done before the first appointment.
Will it tell callers it is not a person?
Every caller is told at the start of the call that the call is being transcribed. The service does not pretend to be a member of staff.
What happens to the recording?
Calls are transcribed, not kept as audio you replay. Summaries, transcripts and messages are stored in Australian data centres under the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles, and filed to your matter.
Does it work with LEAP?
EzyBiz Lex files to Smokeball, Clio and SharePoint. It does not file into LEAP; summaries and transcripts still arrive by push notification and in the app.
See one call go from ring to file note
Book a setup call with the founder. You get a number to try on your own phone, and the answering service configured for your practice areas, your hours and your rules.