Legal answering service options for UK law firms

Solicitors are in meetings, at court or on calls with clients for much of the day, and reception covers one desk, not every line. New enquiries arrive in the gaps: over lunch, after work and at weekends, often from people who are worried and may only try once or twice before ringing the next firm.

The calls that matter most are usually:

• New enquiries, by area of law, from people who've never dealt with you before.
• Time-sensitive matters, such as a hearing date, a completion deadline or a police station call, if your firm does that work.
• Existing clients chasing progress, which take fee earner time but rarely need to.
• Price questions, especially for conveyancing, probate and employment work.

Check two normal weeks of missed calls before you buy anything. If most are existing clients, a better voicemail and a callback routine may do. If many are new enquiries after 5pm, you need cover that answers.

Whoever answers your phone isn't giving legal services, but what they collect feeds straight into your regulatory duties. The SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, in effect from 11 April 2025, is the place to start (SRA).

Who the caller is

The Code requires you to identify who you are acting for in relation to any matter (paragraph 8.1). Take the caller's full name and contact details, and note whether they're calling for themselves or for someone else, such as a relative or a business.

Who else is involved

You must not act where there's a conflict of interest, other than in the limited cases the Code allows (paragraph 6.2). Take the names of the other parties your firm asks for, so your team can run its own conflict check. Your phone cover should collect those names, never decide whether there's a conflict.

Keeping it confidential

You must keep the affairs of current and former clients confidential unless disclosure is required or permitted by law, or the client consents (paragraph 6.3). Treat a new enquiry with the same care. Ask any provider where call recordings and notes are kept, who can see them and how long they're held.

No advice

A receptionist, human or AI, shouldn't interpret the caller's situation or tell them what to do. If a caller asks for advice, the right answer is that a member of the team will need to speak to them, followed by a message with a good time to call back.

Many new callers ask what something will cost. Under the SRA Transparency Rules, firms must publish cost information on their website for certain services (SRA Transparency Rules). For individuals these include residential conveyancing, the administration of an estate after a death, immigration applications and appeals other than asylum, summary-only road traffic offences dealt with at a single hearing, and Employment Tribunal claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal. For businesses they include defending those Employment Tribunal claims, debt recovery up to £100,000 and licensing applications for business premises.

That gives your phone cover a straightforward answer for those services: point the caller to the prices on your website, or read out your published figures if you've given them to it. For anything else, take the details and say a member of the team will explain the costs. The Code also requires clients to get the best possible information about pricing, at engagement and as the matter goes on (paragraph 8.7), which is a fee earner's job, not reception's.

A short, area-specific set of questions saves the fee earner a call. Here's a starting point to adapt with your own team.

Your phone cover should never tell a caller whether a time limit has passed. It should flag the call as urgent and get it to the right person under the rules you've set.

Voicemail

Free, and fine for existing clients. Poor for a worried new caller, who is more likely to ring the next firm than leave a detailed message about a personal matter.

More reception or secretarial cover

Someone who knows your firm and fee earners is the best first contact a caller can get. It's also the most expensive. The National Careers Service gives average salaries of £21,000 to £25,000 for receptionists, for 37 to 40 hours a week (National Careers Service), and £24,000 to £40,000 for legal secretaries (National Careers Service). On top come employer National Insurance at 15% of pay above £5,000 (GOV.UK) and at least a 3% employer pension contribution (GOV.UK). And it still only covers office hours.

A human legal answering service

A remote receptionist answers in your firm's name from an agreed script and passes on messages. A person handles distress and the unexpected well, which matters in family, crime and bereavement work. Ask how much legal experience the receptionists have, whether the same team covers evenings, and how you're charged. Most charge per call or per minute, often with an allowance, and out-of-hours cover can cost extra.

An AI receptionist

Software answers forwarded calls in your firm's name, asks your intake questions the same way every time and sends a summary to the right team. Most charge a flat monthly fee, so a busy month costs the same as a quiet one. It must say it's automated, never give legal advice, and pass anything it can't handle to a person. For a distressed caller or a highly sensitive matter, a trained person may be the better first contact.

A mix

Many firms do best with reception in office hours, an answering service for overflow and evenings, and transfers to a fee earner for the calls that can't wait. Our comparison of AI receptionists and human answering services covers when each side of that mix fits.

1. 1Where are call recordings and notes stored, who can access them, and when are they deleted?
2. 2How does the receptionist decline a request for legal advice? Ask to hear it.
3. 3Can it collect the other parties' names for your conflict check, without deciding anything itself?
4. 4How are urgent matters flagged, and how fast do they reach a person?
5. 5What happens in a busy month: is there a call or minute limit, and what does going over cost?
6. 6Is there a minimum contract or a set-up fee?

Then test it with five real-style calls: a routine enquiry, an urgent one, a request for advice, a caller who asks for a solicitor by name, and a caller who is upset. Our guide to what happens when an AI receptionist can't help explains what good handling looks like.