A lawyer client intake form is the questionnaire a law firm asks you to complete before it decides whether to take your case. It gathers your contact details, the names of everyone involved in the dispute, a short account of what happened, and the documents the attorney needs to size up the matter and check for conflicts of interest. Filling it out carefully, and sending the right paperwork with it, is what moves you from “prospective client” to “represented client” without weeks of back-and-forth.
Here is what to expect on the form, what to attach, how electronic submission works, and what the firm will do once it has everything.
Information the Form Will Ask For
The first block of questions is biographical. Expect fields for your full legal name, date of birth, current address, phone number, and email. Use the name exactly as it appears on your driver’s license or passport. If a lawsuit is eventually filed, court records have to match official identification, and a mismatch at the intake stage can hold up a filing later.
Most forms also ask for a Social Security number or taxpayer identification number, and for a secondary contact (a spouse, relative, or close friend) the firm can reach if your phone changes mid-case.1Internal Revenue Service. Publication 4345 – Settlements – Taxability and Reporting
Names of Everyone Involved
A separate section asks you to list every opposing party and anyone else connected to the dispute: individuals, businesses, insurers, co-defendants. Give full names, and for any business, include the full legal name, any trade names or DBAs, the state where it was formed, and its headquarters address. The firm uses these names to run a conflict check against its database of current and former clients. Attorneys are ethically barred from taking a case when representing you would be directly adverse to another client, or when loyalties to someone else could materially limit the representation.2American Bar Association. Model Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.7 – Conflict of Interest Current Clients If you leave a name off, the conflict check misses it, and the firm may have to withdraw later.3American Bar Association. How the Legal Client Intake and Conflict Check Process Works
Your Statement of Facts
A narrative section, often labeled “Statement of Facts,” asks you to describe the legal issue in your own words. Cover the basics: the date the incident occurred, where it happened, who was involved, and what outcome you want. The date matters more than most people realize. Lawyers use it to check the statute of limitations, which is the legal deadline for filing a lawsuit, and a case that is days away from expiring needs to be flagged immediately.
The form will also ask whether you’ve already consulted another attorney about the same matter, whether a lawsuit has been filed, and whether any court orders are already in place. Answer honestly. Knowing where the case stands procedurally keeps the firm from duplicating work and helps the attorney gauge urgency.
Documents to Send With the Form
Attach your supporting paperwork at the same time you submit the form. Sending it all in one package lets the firm evaluate the case in a single pass, instead of asking you to dig for records over several phone calls.
At minimum, plan to send:
- A copy of your government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport.
- Any existing court documents if a lawsuit is already underway, including the complaint, answer, motions, and court orders.
- Correspondence related to the dispute — letters, emails, or text messages, including anything from the opposing party or their attorney.
- Insurance information: policy numbers and carrier names for any coverage that could apply.
Additional Records by Practice Area
What else to send depends on the type of case.
Family law. Divorce, custody, and support cases turn on finances. The firm will usually ask for your tax returns (often the last three years), recent pay stubs, bank and retirement account statements, and a list of your debts and assets. Courts in many jurisdictions require this kind of financial disclosure early in the case anyway.
Employment matters. If you were fired, demoted, or harassed, send the employee handbook, any written warnings or performance reviews, your termination letter, and relevant pay records. The attorney will compare what the employer did against what its own policies required.
Personal injury. Send medical records and billing statements from every provider who treated you, and the police report if one exists. The firm will also ask you to sign a HIPAA authorization so it can request protected health information directly from your doctors and hospitals. A valid authorization has to describe the information being released, name who can receive it, state the purpose, carry an expiration date, and be signed by you. It also has to tell you that you can revoke it in writing at any time.4eCFR. 45 CFR 164.508 – Uses and Disclosures for Which an Authorization Is Required
If you have original one-of-a-kind documents — a signed contract, a deed, handwritten notes — consider sending copies rather than originals at the intake stage, or ask the firm how it handles originals before you mail them.
Signing and Submitting the Form Electronically
Most firms now accept intake forms through a secure online portal or a link sent by email or text. Under the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, a signature or record cannot be denied legal effect just because it is electronic.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 7001 – General Rule of Validity Forty-nine states have also adopted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, which provides a parallel state framework. Typing your name, drawing a signature on a touchscreen, or clicking an “Accept” button all produce a legally valid signature when the workflow is set up properly.
A compliant signing process should do four things: show that you clearly intended to sign, offer you the option to submit a paper version instead, send you a copy of the completed form, and keep the record in a format that can be reproduced accurately later. If the firm uses multifactor authentication or a time-stamped audit trail, that is a normal extra layer of verification, not a red flag.
If you’d rather sign on paper, say so. The firm should accommodate it.
Your Confidentiality Before You Hire the Firm
It is reasonable to hesitate before putting sensitive facts on a form for a lawyer you haven’t hired yet. ABA Model Rule 1.18 covers this situation. A person who consults with a lawyer about possibly forming an attorney-client relationship is a “prospective client,” and the lawyer is prohibited from using or revealing information from that consultation even if the firm never takes the case.6American Bar Association. Model Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.18 – Duties to Prospective Client If what you share could be significantly harmful to you, the lawyer and the rest of the firm are disqualified from later representing someone on the opposing side of the same or a substantially related matter, unless both sides give informed written consent or the lawyer who received your information is screened from the case.
In practice, this means you can be candid on the form. It also means some firms deliberately keep the initial intake short, saving the deeper fact-gathering for after the conflict check clears.
What Happens After You Submit
When your form and documents arrive, administrative staff enter the party names into the firm’s conflict-checking system. If a conflict surfaces, the firm either resolves it (sometimes possible with informed written consent from everyone affected) or declines the matter. If the check comes back clean, an attorney reviews your Statement of Facts to decide whether the firm has the expertise and capacity for your case, and whether the statute of limitations leaves enough time to act.
Expect this review to take anywhere from one business day to a full week, depending on complexity. Until both sides agree to the representation, you are not yet a client. The agreement is usually made formal through a retainer, which spells out the fee structure, the scope of the lawyer’s work, and the terms under which either side can end the relationship.7Legal Information Institute. Retainer Agreement Read it before you sign.
If the Firm Decides Not to Take Your Case
A firm that declines should send you a non-engagement letter. This confirms in writing that no attorney-client relationship was formed and that the firm is not responsible for providing legal services on the matter. A well-drafted non-engagement letter will also warn you that strict time limits may apply to your claim and urge you to consult another attorney promptly so you don’t lose your rights by waiting.8Colorado Bar Association. Sample Language for Non-Engagement, Consultations, and Termination of Engagements Take that warning seriously. If a deadline is close, start calling other firms the same day.
If you sent original documents with your intake, ask for them back. Under ABA Model Rule 1.16(d), a lawyer must take reasonably practicable steps to protect a client’s interests when the representation ends, including surrendering papers and property the client is entitled to.9American Bar Association. Model Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.16 – Declining or Terminating Representation The same principle, together with the Rule 1.18 duties owed to prospective clients, means firms should not hold onto your originals after declining your case. A prompt written request is usually enough.