Client intake software for law firms
Know the case before the first call
Your client answers Tellbrief’s questions before the first call. You receive a Tellbrief: what to examine first, why it matters, what to ask and which documents to review.
Sample Tellbriefs
Client question: What should be in place before we sign the retailer’s vendor agreement?
Issue to examine first
Who owns the recipe needs checking
“Our recipes were developed with a contract manufacturer in Ohio, and I’m not sure who owns them.”
An outside manufacturer helps make the product. The contract and development history may determine who can use the recipe. Confirm who created it, what was signed, and whether the manufacturer has any rights before treating ownership as settled. A retailer’s vendor agreement may ask them to promise they own or have the rights to the product. They answered that the company mostly controls it, but wrote they’re not sure who owns the recipes; how the manufacturer relationship was papered isn’t in the intake.
Ask on the call
- Did they develop the recipe before working with the manufacturer, or together?
- What do the signed terms say about ownership, permitted use, confidentiality and rights after the relationship ends?
- Can the manufacturer make the same product for anyone else, and what happens if the relationship ends?
Documents to ask for
- The manufacturing, co-packing or supply agreement, and any NDA with the manufacturer
- Anything showing who developed it and when: notes, emails, test batches
Client question: Do we need a trust, or are new wills enough?
Issue to examine first
They say their 401(k) still names a former spouse
“Our wills are from before we moved here from Ohio, and my 401k still lists my ex-husband.”
The client reports that the form still names the former spouse; the form itself has not been inspected. For an account that passes by beneficiary designation, the designation generally controls rather than the will. Which rules apply depends on the type of account and the plan or policy. For most employer retirement plans, including most 401(k)s (governed by ERISA), check whether the form on file still controls: the plan pays whoever the form names, state laws that cancel an ex-spouse’s designation after divorce generally don’t reach them (Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, 532 U.S. 141 (2001)), and a waiver in the divorce decree may not stop the plan paying the named person (Kennedy v. Plan Administrator, 555 U.S. 285 (2009)). An IRA or an individual policy is not an employer plan: state laws that cancel an ex-spouse’s designation after divorce may reach those instead, so which kind of account this is decides which rule to check. The form itself may need changing with the plan or insurer.
Ask on the call
- Did the divorce decree or settlement say anything about it?
- Who should be named now, and who is the backup?
- Do any other accounts or policies still name the former spouse?
Documents to ask for
- Current beneficiary forms for each retirement account, annuity and life insurance policy
- Any divorce decree or settlement agreement
Client question: Can they move the kids out of state before anything is decided?
Issue to examine first
They say the other parent plans to move far away
“The kids are with me during the week, and Taylor just told me they want to move to Denver with them.”
The other parent plans to move to Denver with the children (their story); the children live mostly with your client; no date was given. They answered no when asked whether there is a court order, and reported that no court case has been started. The actual status of any court filings or orders has not been independently checked. Whether there is a separate written agreement about the children is not established: none is in the answers. A move can change which schedule works, and may need the other parent’s agreement or a court’s. Whether to ask for temporary orders before the move may be the first decision. When the move is planned for decides how much else has to wait: a move weeks away may have to be dealt with before the rest, while one months away can be planned around.
Ask on the call
- When is the other parent planning to move?
- Is there a written parenting agreement, even one that was never filed with a court?
- What is the current schedule, and what schedule does the other parent propose after the move?
Documents to ask for
Any parenting plan or written agreement, even an informal one.
Client question: Should I keep talking to their insurance company?
Issue to examine first
They have already given the other side’s insurer a recorded statement, and want to know whether to keep talking
“Their insurance company called and I gave them a recorded statement.”
The other side’s insurer has already contacted them, and they have given that insurer a recorded statement. What the statement contains is not in the intake. They answered that no one has said it was their fault, but their story says they were ticketed or cited — that difference has to be addressed directly, not left for the other side to find. The ticket records an official citation, while the recorded statement captures the client’s own account; both may matter when the lawyer assesses how fault is disputed. Their care so far is a doctor or urgent care visit and physical therapy, and care is still going on; the urgent care was the day after the incident. They missed a few days of work. Their health insurance is paying for the care. What is not known: what the statement said, whether they signed anything else, what the insurer has asked for since, and the exact date it happened. Until the statement is reviewed and the insurer’s requests are known, the record does not justify telling them to stop or keep talking to the insurer. Who speaks to the insurer from here is the first decision.
Ask on the call
- Can they get a copy of the recorded statement?
- What did they say in it about how it happened, who was at fault and their injuries?
- What has the insurer asked for since the statement?
- Did they sign anything besides the recorded statement — an authorisation or a release?
- What happened to the ticket or citation — was it challenged, paid, or is it still open?
- What treatment is current, and what is planned?
Documents to ask for
- A copy of the recorded statement
- The ticket or citation, and anything showing how it was resolved
- Anything they signed for an insurer
- Urgent-care and physical-therapy records
- Records of the workdays missed
Why a Tellbrief, not a form
An intake form gives you the client’s answers in the order asked. A Tellbrief reads those answers together.
It brings forward differences in the client’s account, separates what they stated from what they are unsure about or left unanswered, connects their question to their circumstances, and ranks what you should examine first.
Each issue explains why it matters and gives you questions to ask and documents to review. The client’s answers are the limit: a Tellbrief does not fill in facts they did not provide. No AI generates it; the same answers produce the same Tellbrief.
Without a Tellbrief, that work still has to happen for each new intake: read the answers, spot what doesn’t line up, decide what matters first, and work out what to ask and which documents to review. The form gives you the information. You still have to make sense of it before the call, or do that work during it.
How it works
Keep your process. Add one link
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We set up firms by hand. Add the link to your booking confirmation.
Check names first
You see their names, email and the topic — never their answers — until you clear them. Decline, and their answers are deleted unread.
Read the Tellbrief
It opens in your dashboard once you clear the names. Save a PDF for your file if you need it.
A conversation before the conflict check can create duties under Rule 1.18 (opens in a new tab).
Client information
Deleted on schedule: the brief at 14 days, the names at 45 days, after-call notes at 365 days. Tellbrief’s schedule covers its copies; it does not delete PDFs saved by your firm.
Read the Security page and Privacy page.
Pricing
Your firm’s first three delivered Tellbriefs are free.
A Tellbrief is delivered when you clear the names and it opens in your dashboard.
- $75 per delivered Tellbrief, capped at $199 per month per lawyer.
- For firms with up to five lawyers: the lesser of per-brief charges or $499 per month.
- Billing starts the day you say yes. Only briefs delivered after you say yes are charged.
Full pricing details
- Delivered means you clear the names and it opens in your dashboard.
- A month with no briefs costs nothing.
- Only lawyers who got briefs count toward the cap.
- Five lawyers at their own caps: $995.
- The firm cap holds it to $499.
- Bar members: $40 a brief, $99 a month cap per lawyer, first year.
- You pay only for briefs that reach you.
- Names you decline cost nothing.
- Tellbrief doesn’t take a share of legal fees and doesn’t pay or charge for referrals.
See what a Tellbrief does before your next first call
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