A new inquiry on a family law firm's WhatsApp number starts an AI intake agent that screens the matter, offers open consultation slots from the lawyers' calendars and collects the consult fee. Qualified prospects are booked and paid in under five minutes.
Typical results
≈8 hrs/wk
Front-desk screening time saved
≈30%
Inquiries screened out before any staff time
24/7
Intake and booking availability
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
Family law inquiries arrive on WhatsApp at all hours, often from people in distress who expect a quick answer. A secretary asks the same screening questions by hand, checks several lawyers' calendars and chases the consult fee by phone. Replies can take a day, and about a third of inquiries are matters the firm does not handle.
Before and after
Front-desk screening time per week
−80%Minutes from inquiry to booked consultation
−99%Consultation no-shows
−67%The automation
An AI agent built in Make with OpenAI answers each new WhatsApp message and asks about the matter type (divorce, custody or support), children, assets and urgency. Out-of-scope matters get a polite referral. Qualified prospects see open consultation slots from the lawyers' Outlook calendars and receive a payment link for the consult fee. Once payment clears, the slot is booked, a CRM lead record stores the intake summary, and the lawyer gets a one-page brief before the meeting.
How it works
- 01
Inquiry arrives on WhatsApp
A new message on the firm's WhatsApp number starts the intake agent, day or night.
- 02
AI screening questions
The agent asks about matter type, children, assets and urgency, and refers out matters the firm does not take.
- 03
Slot and payment
Qualified prospects pick an open slot from the lawyers' Outlook calendars and pay the consult fee by link.
- 04
Lead record in the CRM
Payment confirms the booking and creates a CRM lead with the full intake summary attached.
- 05
Lawyer brief
The lawyer receives a one-page brief before the meeting with the facts, the urgency and open questions.
Starts from
- WhatsApp inquiries
- Lawyers' Outlook calendars
Delivers
- Paid consultation booking
- CRM lead with summary
- One-page lawyer brief
The impact
Qualified prospects go from first message to a paid, booked consultation in under five minutes, at any hour. Front-desk screening time drops by about 8 hours a week, no-shows fall because the fee is paid upfront, and lawyers walk into every first meeting already briefed.
Questions about this automation
How does the agent decide which inquiries the firm takes?
The firm defines its practice areas and exclusions, such as matters outside family law or outside its region. The agent asks a short set of screening questions and compares the answers with those rules. Out-of-scope inquiries get a courteous referral message, and borderline cases are flagged for a person to review.
Which systems does it connect to?
It runs on the firm's WhatsApp number, reads availability from the lawyers' Outlook calendars, sends a payment link through the firm's card processor and writes the lead to the CRM. The intake logic runs in Make with OpenAI, so each piece can be swapped if the firm uses different tools.
What happens when someone needs urgent help?
Urgency is one of the screening questions. When someone mentions a hearing date, a protective order or a child at risk, the agent pauses the booking flow and alerts the duty lawyer on WhatsApp with the conversation so far. This is a multi-step build, usually rolled out in stages.