Before a free first call, send the client your Tellbrief link. They answer about 30 questions about their business. You check their names for conflicts, then read a short brief before you talk.
$75 a brief, never more than $199 a month per lawyer. Your first three briefs are free.
Names clearedMade-up example · Example Co, a sauce maker with its first big retail deal
The recipe may not be fully theirs
“Our recipes were developed with a contract manufacturer in Ohio, and I’m not sure who owns them.”
Ask on the call
Did they develop the recipe before working with the manufacturer, or together?
What did they sign with the manufacturer: a supply agreement, an NDA, a quote, or nothing?
Can the manufacturer make the same product for anyone else, and what happens if the relationship ends?
What settles it
The manufacturing, co-packing or supply agreement, and any NDA with the manufacturer.
Work you could offer
Review and negotiate the retailer’s vendor agreement, which is what they asked about. Before that: confirm who owns the recipe, and put the founders’ ownership in writing.
Send your link. Put it in your booking confirmation, and every new client gets it.
They answer about 30 questions. Most take one tap. It’s free for them, with no account. They get a copy of their brief, with no legal advice or conclusions in it. If they skip it, the call goes ahead as usual.
You run the conflict check first. We email you that names are waiting, with no client details in the email. The brief stays locked until you clear the names on your dashboard. Decline, and it’s deleted unread. Rule 1.18 advises learning only what you need to decide whether to take the matter.1
You read the brief and take the call. It opens on your dashboard, and you can save it as a PDF for the matter file.
Questions for business ownersIt asks what’s changing in the business, who’s on the other side, who owns what, and what customer data they hold. It isn’t a contact form for every kind of law.
Works next to your softwareIt doesn’t connect to practice-management software, so it never sees your other clients. Download the client as a contact file, which most practice software imports, and save the brief as a PDF.
EncryptedNames and briefs are encrypted before they’re stored, and each firm’s records are kept separate. No ad trackers, analytics scripts or cookies.
Deleted after 14 daysTellbrief deletes its copy of each brief 14 days after it reaches you, or sooner if you delete it. We email you 3 days before, so you can save the PDF.
Pricing
You pay only when a brief reaches you
Your first three briefs are free, with no card.
After your third brief
$75 a brief
Never more than $199 a month per lawyer
Free for clients you decline or who don’t finish
Free for any month with no briefs
Lawyers at the firm who get no briefs don’t count
Stop any month
For one lawyer at the $199 limit, 8 briefs in a month come to about $25 each. Nothing is billed until you tell us you’re keeping it.
The math
How it covers its cost
It has to bring you work you wouldn’t otherwise get, in one of two ways.
A bigger first matter. The brief lists related work the client didn’t ask for, like putting ownership in writing. Tick what you’d take on, and copy it as a draft email to the client.
Clients who come back. When a client sends their brief, they can add a reminder to their calendar for three months later. The reminder links back to your firm.
We don’t promise results.
Starting a pilot
Tell us about your firmYour firm, practice area and state.
We set up your link with youOn a short call. You paste one line into your booking confirmation.
You decide after three briefsYour pilot report shows how many clients sent a brief and how many hired you.
You can try it without changing your website. Before your first real client, we agree in writing on the price and how client information is handled. If someone at your firm approves new tools, send them the firm packet.