When a small firm loses a prospective client, it is often somewhere between the first call and the signed engagement letter. The inquiry sits in an inbox, the follow-up waits for a free afternoon, and when the client finally says yes, someone types their details again into the system that runs the case. A legal CRM should close that gap with one record that runs from first contact to open matter.
Why legal intake is different from sales
A prospective client is owed duties before they hire you. ABA Model Rule 1.18 says that a lawyer who learns information from someone consulting about possibly hiring them may not use or reveal it, even if no engagement follows. If that information could significantly harm the prospect, the lawyer, and through them the firm, can be barred from representing someone adverse to the prospect in the same or a substantially related matter, unless the rule’s consent or screening conditions are met. One of those conditions turns on the lawyer having taken reasonable measures to avoid learning more than was needed to decide whether to take the case.
So law firm intake has two jobs a sales CRM does not: check conflicts early, before you hear the whole story, and treat what prospects tell you with the same care as a client file. Your state’s version of the rule governs.
What Coil does
- Leads from anywhere. A web intake form, and an API your phone line, answering service or website can post to. A lead posted twice with the same outside reference is not duplicated.
- Lead scoring, with the factors behind each score shown, so you can see why a lead ranks where it does.
- A pipeline you can see. Leads sit in stages, and you drag them from one to the next.
- Follow-up sequences. Automated follow-ups run on a schedule. They stay as drafts unless the firm turns sending on.
- Conflict-gated conversion. Turning a lead into a client and matter runs the conflict check first and will not skip it. If there is a hit you decide to waive, the waiver is recorded with your reason and an audit row.
- The engagement letter in the same step. The letter goes out for e-signature from the conversion. You see when the client opens it, and the signed copy and its certificate land on the matter.
- Messages on the record. Portal messages and two-way texts through your own Twilio account stay attached to the contact and the matter. Without Twilio set up, texts are stored and clearly marked as not sent.
What Coil does not do
Online booking, where a prospect picks a slot and answers intake questions before the first call, is a further-out idea, and so are review requests after a matter closes. The after-hours phone agent that answers your number, refuses to give advice and files the lead is built, but it needs your Twilio and has not been proven, so it sits in a later phase. Email filing from your mailbox is waiting on a mailbox to test against. Coil does not send newsletters or marketing campaigns.
Why one flow matters
When intake, conflicts, the engagement letter and the matter live in separate products, every hand-off is a place for a typo or a skipped step. In Coil the person who called is the same record that signs the letter and becomes the client, and the conflict check is not optional on the way through. The name they gave at intake is also searchable by every conflict check after that, whether or not they hired you.
Coil is hosted and free during the beta, and beta firms keep founding pricing when paid plans start.
Questions
Can Coil take leads from my website and my answering service?
Yes. Coil has a web intake form, and an API your phone line, answering service or website can post leads to. A lead sent twice with the same outside reference is not duplicated.
Do follow-up sequences send on their own?
Only if you turn sending on. Until the firm does, each follow-up in a sequence is saved as a draft for someone to review and send.
Can a lead become a client without a conflict check?
No. Converting a lead into a client and matter runs the conflict check first and cannot skip it. If you go ahead despite a hit, the waiver is recorded with a reason and an audit row.
Can prospects book a consultation online?
Not yet. Online booking with intake questions before the first call is a further-out idea. Today leads come in through the intake form, the API and your phone.
Last checked October 28, 2026.