How much time do solo practitioners actually spend on intake?

When we talk to solo practitioners about client intake, we often hear: "It doesn't take that long." But when we break down the actual process, the numbers are surprising.

Let's map a typical intake workflow.

The initial contact

A potential client emails or calls. You're with another client, so you don't respond immediately.

Time to triage and respond: 5-10 minutes

The back-and-forth to schedule an initial conversation might take 2-3 emails or a phone tag sequence.

Time to schedule: 10-15 minutes

The intake call

You conduct a phone or video call to understand their situation. For family law, this involves understanding the family structure, what's happened, what they want to achieve.

Time for intake call: 30-60 minutes

You take notes during the call, then spend time afterwards writing them up properly.

Time for notes: 10-15 minutes

Document collection

The potential client needs to send you documents. Existing court orders. Financial records. Identification.

You email them a list. They send some documents. You follow up about the missing ones.

Time for document management: 15-30 minutes (often spread across days)

Conflict check

You check the names against your existing clients and matters. For family law, this includes checking the other party and potentially other family members.

Time for conflict check: 5-10 minutes

Summary and decision

You review everything and decide whether to take the matter. You might send a follow-up email with engagement terms or a polite decline.

Time for summary and engagement: 10-20 minutes

The total

Add it up:

Activity	Time
Triage and response	5-10 min
Scheduling	10-15 min
Intake call	30-60 min
Notes	10-15 min
Documents	15-30 min
Conflict check	5-10 min
Summary/engagement	10-20 min
Total	85-160 min

For a typical matter, you're spending 1.5 to 2.5 hours on intake alone. And that doesn't include the potential client who takes your time but doesn't proceed.

If you take 10 new matters per month, that's 15-25 hours spent on intake. At average billing rates for mid-level solicitors ($350-550/hour), the opportunity cost is $5,000-14,000 monthly.

Where automation helps

Much of this time isn't legal work. It's administrative work that follows predictable patterns:

• Scheduling can be automated
• Initial information gathering can be conversational AI
• Document collection can be systematised
• Conflict checking can be automated
• Summary generation can be AI-assisted

Human judgment is essential for deciding whether to take a matter and how to approach it. But the administrative scaffolding around that decision? That's automation territory.

What changes with Jurisdox

With Jurisdox handling intake:

• Potential clients complete intake on your website at their convenience
• Information is collected through natural conversation
• Documents are gathered during the conversation
• Conflicts are checked automatically
• You receive a structured summary

Your time investment: 5-10 minutes to review the summary and make a decision.

The 1.5-2.5 hours becomes 10 minutes. Multiply by 10 matters per month, and you've recovered 15-25 hours.

That's a week of additional billable time every month. Or a week of life outside work. Your choice.