Prospective client intake: a Rule 1.18 checklist
For education only. Not legal advice. Tellbrief is not a law firm.
Every new client starts as a prospective client. Rule 1.18 sets duties to people who consult a firm and never hire it, so intake is where a firm can keep those duties small.
Who counts as a prospective client
ABA Model Rule 1.18, as Minnesota adopted it, begins:
“A person who consults with a lawyer about the possibility of forming a client-lawyer relationship with respect to a matter is a prospective client.”1Rule 1.18(a)
Whether a communication is a consultation “depends on the circumstances,” the comment says, and it gives an example that reads like a description of an intake form:
“a consultation is likely to have occurred if a lawyer, either in person or through the lawyer's advertising in any medium, specifically requests or invites the submission of information about a potential representation without clear and reasonably understandable warnings and cautionary statements that limit the lawyer's obligations, and a person provides information in response.”1Rule 1.18, comment [2]
Your booking page, contact form and intake questions all invite information. Check your state’s version of the rule, which is the one that applies.
What the duty is
Rule 1.18(b) says that even when no client-lawyer relationship follows, the lawyer “shall not use or reveal information obtained in the consultation, except as Rule 1.9 would permit with respect to information of a former client.”1
Rule 1.18(c) goes further:
“A lawyer subject to paragraph (b) shall not represent a client with interests materially adverse to those of a prospective client in the same or a substantially related matter if the lawyer received information from the prospective client that could be significantly harmful to that person in the matter, except as provided in paragraph (d). If a lawyer is disqualified from representation under this paragraph, no lawyer in a firm with which that lawyer is associated may knowingly undertake or continue representation in such a matter, except as provided in paragraph (d).”1Rule 1.18(c)
How the firm can still act
Rule 1.18(d) says that when the lawyer has received disqualifying information, representation is permissible if:
“(1) both the affected client and the prospective client have given informed consent, confirmed in writing; or (2) the lawyer who received the information took reasonable measures to avoid exposure to more disqualifying information than was reasonably necessary to determine whether to represent the prospective client, and (i) the disqualified lawyer is timely screened from any participation in the matter and is apportioned no part of the fee therefrom; and (ii) written notice is promptly given to the prospective client.”1Rule 1.18(d)
The first half of (2) is an intake question: how much did you hear before deciding?
A checklist for intake
- Booking page and contact form: ask for names and a one-line description, and say plainly not to send details yet.
- Names first: collect every party and run the conflict check before anyone reads the story.
- Who reads what: decide who sees new inquiries, and keep that group small.
- The first call: hold back the detail until the names clear, and stop if a match turns up.
- Advance consent: if your firm uses one, decide when to ask for it and how it’s worded. Comment [5] covers conditioning a consultation on the person’s informed consent.1
- Declining: say no in writing, without the reason if it’s a conflict, and without a view on the matter.
- Records: keep what you need for future conflict checks, and decide what happens to the rest.
The conflict check guide covers the search itself. For the written no, start from the non-engagement letter template. For the booking confirmation, start from the consultation email template.
Tellbrief collects the names when someone books and keeps the client’s answers locked until you clear them. If you decline, the brief is deleted unread. Start a free pilot; your first three briefs are free.
Look at your own forms
Open your booking page and intake form as a new client would. Count how many questions ask for the story before the names. Each one is information your firm may hear before it knows whether it can take the matter. The guide to reviewing your firm’s intake questions walks through the rest.
Sources
Each quote was checked against its source on October 31, 2026. Laws and guidance can change after that date.
Questions
Does a website contact form create a prospective client?
The comment to Rule 1.18 says it depends on the circumstances, and gives the example quoted above. Check your state’s version and any ethics opinions on websites and forms.
What should a booking page ask for?
Names of everyone involved and a one-line description is enough for a conflict check. Ask for the details once the names clear.
Can a firm ask a prospective client to agree in advance that what they share won’t disqualify the firm?
Comment [5] to Rule 1.18 addresses conditioning a consultation on informed consent. Check your state’s version before using one.
What should we do after declining?
Decline in writing, keep the names for future conflict checks, and follow your firm’s process for the rest.
Try it on your next three first calls
Your first three briefs are free. Setup is one short call: you paste one line into your booking confirmation, and you see each client’s names before anything else.
For education only. This article is general information, not legal advice, and reading it doesn’t make you anyone’s client. Tellbrief is not a law firm. For advice about your situation, talk to a licensed lawyer.