Who uses this form
Law firms, solo practitioners, and legal departments opening a new matter.
How to use the client intake form form
A legal intake form is doing conflict-checking work before it is doing anything else. Which is why the adverse-party fields in this template are not an afterthought at the bottom: a firm cannot decide whether it may take a matter until it knows who is on the other side, and discovering a conflict after work has begun is expensive in a way that discovering it at intake is not.
The matter description asks for the client’s account with dates where known. That phrasing is deliberate. An intake note that records the intake-taker’s interpretation rather than what the client said loses the thing that matters later, when the client’s original account is compared against documents and testimony.
Key dates is the field that prevents the worst outcome. A statute of limitations, a contractual notice period, or an existing hearing date changes what the firm must do this week rather than this month, and a form that does not ask leaves it to be volunteered. Urgency is captured separately because a client’s sense of urgency and the actual procedural deadline are frequently different things.
Prior counsel is asked for because it affects both the conflict analysis and the practical picture: a matter that has already been through two firms is a different proposition, and knowing that at intake is better than inferring it later.
Entity type is a small field with disproportionate consequences. Whether the client is an individual, an LLC, a partnership, or a trust determines who can instruct the firm, who signs the engagement letter, and in some matters who the client actually is - a distinction that becomes uncomfortable if a dispute later arises between an entity and the individual who engaged the firm on its behalf.
The desired-outcome field is worth asking even when the answer is unrealistic, because the gap between what a client wants and what the matter can deliver is the expectation that has to be managed from the first meeting. Recording it at intake means that conversation happens early, against something the client said, rather than at the point they are disappointed.
Referral source sits on the form for business reasons rather than legal ones, and it is the field most often left blank. Firms that record it consistently know which referral relationships actually produce work, as distinct from which ones feel productive - and that is difficult to reconstruct retrospectively from a matter list.
Every field, explained
16 fields. Required fields are marked; the rest are optional.
Client
- Client NameTextRequired
- Full legal name of the individual or entity
- Client TypeChoice
- Whether the client is an individual or an organisation
- PhonePhoneRequired
- Primary contact number
- EmailEmailRequired
- Email address for correspondence
- AddressLong text
- Current mailing address
- Referral SourceText
- How the client came to the firm
Matter
- Matter TypeTextRequired
- Practice area and nature of the matter
- Matter DescriptionLong textRequired
- What happened, in the client account, with dates where known
- Desired OutcomeLong text
- What the client wants to achieve
- Key Dates and DeadlinesLong text
- Statute of limitations, hearing dates, contractual deadlines
- UrgencyChoice
- How time-critical the matter is procedurally, which is often not the same as how urgent it feels to the client
Conflicts
- Opposing PartyLong text
- Name of each adverse party, for the conflict check
- Opposing CounselText
- Firm and attorney, if known
- Prior CounselText
- Any attorney previously engaged on this matter
Acknowledgement
- Client SignatureSignature
- Acknowledgement that the information given is accurate
- Date SignedDate
- Date of signature
What a completed form is used for
- Opening a new matter and running the conflict check
- Capturing the client’s account before it is shaped by legal framing
- Identifying limitation periods and existing deadlines at first contact
- Recording referral source for business development
- Handing a new matter to the attorney who will run it
- Establishing who can instruct the firm before the engagement letter
- Recording the client stated objective while it is still their own words
Client Intake Form questions
What should a legal client intake form ask?
Client identity and entity type, contact details, the matter type and the client’s own description of what happened, the outcome they want, any known deadlines or limitation periods, every adverse party for the conflict check, opposing and prior counsel, and referral source. The adverse-party fields are the ones with the most consequence attached.
Why does intake need opposing party details before anything else?
Because a conflict check cannot run without them, and a firm cannot accept a matter until it has cleared. Identifying a conflict at intake costs a phone call; identifying it after work has started can mean withdrawing, returning fees, and in some circumstances a disqualification motion.
Is an intake form privileged?
Communications made for the purpose of seeking legal advice are generally privileged even where the firm does not take the matter, but the specifics vary by jurisdiction and the analysis is fact-dependent. Treat completed intake forms as confidential regardless, including in how they are stored and who can see them.
Should intake be completed by the client or by staff?
Either works, but they produce different documents. A client-completed form gives you their unprompted account; a staff-completed one is more consistent and catches follow-up questions a form cannot ask. The conflict-check fields in particular benefit from someone asking follow-ups, because clients frequently name only the principal adverse party and omit related entities.
Can a recorded client consultation populate this form?
Yes. A recorded initial consultation contains almost everything on this form, and transcribing it means the client is not asked the same questions twice. It also preserves their original account, which is the part most worth having in six months.
The regulatory information on this page is general background compiled from public primary sources, not legal or compliance advice. Requirements change and vary by jurisdiction and by court. Verify current rules with the relevant authority or your own counsel before relying on them.