Law firms · Automation · AI
Law firm automation for small firms, built around your intake and practice software.
A potential client who reaches voicemail at a law firm often calls the next firm within minutes. Kinetiq builds automation and custom tools around a small firm's own systems: calls answered and intake run 24/7, qualified callers booked into a consultation, follow-up for leads who haven't booked, and intake that lands in Clio or your CRM. Kinetiq is based in Corona, California and works with firms across the US.
What small firms automate first
Every build starts with how your firm already takes on a new matter. These are the five places we usually suggest starting, as workflow automation wired into the tools you already use:
- After-hours intake. Calls after 5 pm, on weekends and while you're in court get answered, and the caller's facts are taken down in your intake order.
- Consultation booking. Qualified callers book straight onto the attorney's calendar, with a reminder before the appointment.
- Lead follow-up. Someone who called or filled in your web form but didn't book gets a text and an email, then a reminder.
- Intake forms into Clio or Lawmatics. Web forms and call summaries arrive as a new lead with the answers attached, instead of in an inbox someone retypes from.
- Review requests. When you close a matter, the client gets a short text asking for a Google review.
An AI receptionist for law firms: 24/7 intake and consultation booking
The receptionist is a custom build, not an app you rent: it runs your intake script, on phone and AI accounts in your firm's name. It's one example of the custom AI systems we build. Here is how it handles a first call (or try the text preview):
- Identify the matter. "Can you tell me briefly what this is about?" It recognizes the practice areas you handle and the ones you don't.
- Run your intake. Your questions, in your order: names of other parties (for a conflict check), date of the incident, county, whether they've spoken to another attorney, how they heard about you.
- Qualify or refer. Qualified callers get a consultation slot on the attorney's calendar and a confirmation text with what to bring. Matters outside your practice get a polite decline and, if you want, a referral number.
- Escalate. "I've been arrested," "there's a hearing tomorrow," or an existing client with an urgent question: transferred live to the attorney or the on-call number you set.
- Record. A summary and full transcript can go into your practice software or CRM (Clio, Lawmatics, MyCase or PracticePanther, for example), tagged as new lead, existing client or other.
Built for how firms actually work
- Practice-area rules. Personal-injury intake is different from family-law intake. Each gets its own script and its own calendar.
- Existing clients vs. new leads. It recognizes existing clients by phone number and routes them to their paralegal or attorney instead of running intake again.
- No legal advice. It won't tell a caller whether they have a case or what the law says. It gathers facts and books the consultation. That boundary is in the script, and it holds.
- Consultation fees. If you charge for consultations, it explains the fee and can send a payment link before the appointment is confirmed.
- Spanish-speaking callers. It switches languages when the caller does.
Lead follow-up and intake into Clio or Lawmatics
A lead who doesn't book on the first call is easy to lose. We build the follow-up around your intake: a text and an email to anyone who called or filled in your form but hasn't booked, a reminder the day before the consultation, and a note to your staff when a lead goes quiet. Web forms and call summaries can go into Clio Grow, Clio Manage or Lawmatics through their APIs, with the intake answers attached, so nobody retypes them. Most of it is code we write and host on accounts your firm owns; we use n8n, Zapier or Make when your team already relies on them or when they're the simpler fix.
Custom tools for your firm
Automation is often where a build starts, not where it ends. The same two founders can build custom software around your firm:
- An intake dashboard. Every new lead on one screen: practice area, referral source, whether they booked and who is following up.
- A client status portal. Clients log in to a custom client portal to upload documents and see where their matter stands, so fewer calls are "any update?" calls.
- Internal tools. A document checklist or a referral tracker that replaces a shared spreadsheet.
We've built a client portal for a security company. For a firm, the same kind of portal sits on top of your practice software, and your firm owns the code and the accounts it runs on.
Confidentiality
Calls are encrypted in transit and at rest on the providers we use and kept only as long as you choose. Transcripts are visible only to the people at your firm you designate. We don't use your calls to train general AI models, and we'll put our data handling in writing for your engagement letter or your malpractice carrier's questionnaire. Portals and dashboards follow the same rules: they run on accounts your firm owns, and access is limited to the people you choose.
Where firms lose leads
The usual gaps are after 5 pm, during court and the receptionist's lunch break. Personal injury, family and criminal defense calls come in at all hours. We usually suggest starting by forwarding after-hours and overflow calls, then adding follow-up for leads who don't book.
What it costs
One flat build price, quoted in writing after a 15-minute call. Unlike an answering service, nothing is billed per call by us: a 12-minute intake costs you only the phone and AI minutes, billed by those providers to your firm's accounts. If a system needs ongoing care, such as a receptionist we keep tuned, any flat monthly fee is quoted in writing next to the build price before you pay anything. How our pricing works.
Law firm automation and AI receptionist questions
- What should a small law firm automate first?
- Start with after-hours and overflow intake, then follow-up for leads who call or fill in a form but don't book. Intake into Clio or Lawmatics and review requests come next. On a free 15-minute call we look at how your firm takes on a new matter and tell you in writing what we'd build first and what it would cost.
- Does the AI receptionist give legal advice?
- No. It gathers the facts you ask for, books a consultation and escalates anything urgent. It's scripted not to comment on the merits of a matter or on the law.
- Can it run a conflict check?
- It collects the names of other parties as part of intake and puts them in the record. The conflict check itself stays with your staff or your practice-management software.
- Does it integrate with Clio?
- Yes, through Clio's API: new leads, contacts and call notes can go into Clio Grow or Clio Manage. We can connect Lawmatics, MyCase, PracticePanther or Smokeball the same way, and confirm exactly what your account allows in week one.
- What about calls from existing clients?
- It recognizes existing clients by phone number and routes them to the right person or takes a message, instead of treating them as a new lead.