# Legal and attorney answering service for law firms

Julius Answer by DealsFlow answers your firm's phone while you're in court, in a deposition or with a client. It asks prospective clients what they need help with and how they heard about you, books the consultation as a request, and flags a deadline in the next day or two as urgent.

## In brief
- Answers the firm's phone 24/7 and books **consultations** into open times, each one held as a request until you approve it.
- Asks what the caller needs help with, in a sentence, and how they heard about the firm.
- Treats a court date or filing deadline in the next day or two as urgent.
- Never gives legal advice. Caller details stay out of email summaries by default.
- Collects the basics only: conflict checks and full intake stay with your firm.

## Why law firms lose new clients on the phone

Law firms miss calls because the work happens away from the phone: in court, in depositions and in client meetings, often at firms with nobody else to pick up. Clio's 2024 Legal Trends Report measured it with secret-shopper calls: only 40% of law firms answered, down from 56% in 2019, and Clio said 48% of firms were essentially unreachable by phone.

Not every caller waits for a callback. A September 2025 CallRail survey of 1,000 US consumers found that 21% immediately call another business when nobody answers. Callbacks are also less dependable than they feel: Quo, looking at 16.7 million missed calls on its own platform in an August 2026 analysis, found that professional-services businesses returned 33% of missed calls within 48 hours. Quo's customers aren't a random sample, but the figure shows how many missed calls go two days without a reply.

An AI receptionist doesn't replace your judgment about which matters to take. It makes sure the person who called at 7:45 p.m. reached your firm, was asked the right first questions, and has a consultation request waiting for you in the morning.

## What Julius Answer handles for a firm

### Consultation requests

It offers up to three open times and books the caller's choice as a request that waits for your one-tap approval. Connect Google Calendar and any time you're booked, in court or otherwise, is never offered; approved consultations land on that calendar.

### The matter in one sentence

"My landlord kept my deposit." "I was rear-ended on the interstate." You get the caller's own summary plus how they heard about the firm, so you can see which referrals and searches bring in consultations.

### Calls from existing clients

Routed to the right attorney or paralegal by the rules you set. If nobody can take it, it takes a message, turns "call me before 3" into a due time and alerts you when that promise comes due.

### Spanish and other languages

When a caller speaks Spanish or another language, Julius Answer replies in that language. An optional bilingual greeting offers Spanish up front, and the notes you read are in English.

## What it collects, and what stays with your firm

Julius Answer is a receptionist, not an intake specialist. It gathers the basics a lawyer needs to decide whether and when to call back, and reads the number and any email address back to the caller to confirm them.
- The caller's name and best number, and an email address if they offer one.
- What they need help with, in a sentence.
- How they heard about the firm.
- Any court date or filing deadline in the next day or two, and when they'd like a call back.

It doesn't run conflict checks, decide whether the firm takes a matter, or discuss fees beyond what your information says. Those stay with your team after the callback. Because every caller becomes a client record in the built-in CRM, you can ask plain-English questions later, such as "Which callers this month came from a referral?"

## Deadlines, advice requests and other sensitive calls

Each call is sorted by what the caller says, so a hearing tomorrow morning reaches an attorney tonight and a will question waits for business hours.

How calls to a law firm are handled
| What the caller tells it | How Julius Answer responds |
|---|---|
| "My hearing is tomorrow morning" or "the response is due tomorrow" | Treats a deadline in the next day or two as urgent. Notes the date and offers to connect the caller with the attorney you've designated. If that call goes unanswered, an urgent alert goes out by email and Slack. |
| A caller in immediate danger | Tells them to hang up and call 911 immediately. |
| "Do I have a case?" or "what should I tell the adjuster?" | Explains that it can't give legal advice and offers a consultation or a message for an attorney. |
| "What's happening with my case?" | Puts the client through to their attorney or takes a message. It won't read stored details out to anyone it hasn't verified. |
| Opposing counsel, a court clerk, a process server | Routes the call to the right person, or takes a detailed message with a callback time. |
| Legal directory sales, marketing offers, robocalls | Handled politely and noted as low priority, without ringing anyone. |

## Example: a new-client call after hours

A shortened example of a prospective client calling a small personal injury firm in the evening. The greeting gives the firm's name and says the caller is speaking with an AI assistant on a recorded line.

**Calder & Reyes Law**Wednesday, 7:45 p.m.Example

Hi, I was in a car accident last week and the other driver's insurance keeps calling me. Do I have a case?

I'm sorry you're dealing with that. I can't give legal advice, but I can set up a consultation with one of the attorneys. In a sentence, what would you like help with?

The other driver ran a red light, and I don't know whether I should talk to their insurance.

Thank you. How did you hear about the firm?

A coworker used you last year.

I have Thursday at 10 a.m., Thursday at 2 p.m. or Friday at 11 a.m. Which works best?

Friday at 11.

Friday at 11 is requested, and the firm will confirm it. I have your number as 512-555-0142. Is that right?

**Consultation request:** car accident, questions about the other driver's insurer, referred by a coworker, Friday 11 a.m.**Then:** confirmed with one tap. The email summary goes out without the caller's details.

An illustrative example. Your receptionist uses your firm's name, practice areas and policies.

## Connecting it to Clio and your other tools

Julius Answer has no native Clio integration. Instead, each call can send a signed webhook to Zapier, Make or any app that accepts one, so you can pass new consultation requests into your practice management software, a spreadsheet or a task list.

Inside Julius Answer, every caller is already a client record with their calls, bookings, tasks and notes. Urgent messages can go to a Slack channel with one click, and you can download everything as a spreadsheet (CSV) whenever you want.

## Setting it up for a firm
1.

### Describe the firm

Sign up, then type or talk to the setup assistant: practice areas you take and don't, office hours, whether consultations are free, the languages your attorneys speak.
1.

### Set routing and urgency

Decide who gets deadline calls and which attorney takes which practice area. Connect Google Calendar and add Slack alerts if you use it.
1.

### Forward the line

Keep your number and forward all calls (*72 plus the number on Verizon and most landlines) or only unanswered ones, then call your own number to hear it answer.

## What it costs a solo or small firm

All three Julius Answer plans share one feature set. What changes is the number of included minutes and the number of calls it can take simultaneously: 1 on Starter, 3 on Pro and 10 on Business.

Julius Answer plans (USD)
|  | Starter | Pro | Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $79 | $199 | $399 |
| Yearly price (two months free) | $790 | $1,990 | $3,990 |
| Call minutes included | 300 | 1,000 | 3,000 |
| Effective price per minute | $0.26 | $0.20 | $0.13 |
| Calls answered at the same time | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| Local phone number | Included | Included | Included |
| Every feature | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 7 days | 7 days | 7 days |

A solo attorney who gets three new-client calls a day, each about five minutes, uses about 330 minutes over 22 working days. That's just over Starter's 300, so the choice is Pro or Starter plus a 100-minute pack for $25. For comparison, Ruby's live receptionist plans start at $250 a month for 50 minutes, as listed on its pricing page on October 19, 2026; Ruby's calls are answered by people, which some firms prefer ([see how the two compare](/compare/julius-answer-vs-ruby/)).

## Answer the next call while you're in court

Your first 7 days are free. Forward the firm's line and let Julius Answer book consultations while you work.

[Start free trial](/signup/) [See pricing](/pricing/)

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Julius Answer integrate with Clio?

Not natively. Every call can send a signed webhook to Zapier or Make, which can pass the caller's details to Clio or another practice management system. If a built-in Clio connection matters to you, Smith.ai lists native Clio integration on its AI receptionist pricing page, as checked on October 19, 2026.

### Is caller information kept confidential?

Caller details stay out of email summaries by default, so they don't sit in an inbox; your team reads them in the console with their own logins. Julius Answer never reads stored details back to a caller it can't verify and never stores card numbers or passwords. See our [security](/security/) and [privacy](/privacy/) pages.

### Can it tell callers whether the firm handles their kind of case?

Yes, if your information lists the practice areas you take and the ones you don't. When a caller describes something your information doesn't cover, it says it isn't sure, takes a message and saves the question so you can answer it once.

### Can it work as a virtual receptionist for my law firm, putting calls through to a specific attorney?

Yes. Set rules such as family law calls go to one attorney and billing questions go to the office manager. If nobody picks up, it takes a message with a callback time, and a missed transfer triggers an alert.

### Will callers know they are speaking with an AI?

Yes. The greeting gives your firm's name and says the caller is speaking with an AI assistant on a recorded line. For a law firm, the professional or consultative tone usually fits best, and you can change the receptionist's name and voice.

### How much does a law firm answering service cost?

Julius Answer is $79, $199 or $399 a month, with every feature on every plan and no per-call fees. Plans differ in minutes and in how many calls are answered at once. Start with a 7-day free trial.

## Sources
1. [Clio's latest Legal Trends Report (press release)](https://www.clio.com/about/press/clio-latest-legal-trends-report/), Clio, October 7, 2024
1. [Missed calls cost businesses more than ever (survey of 1,000 US consumers)](https://www.callrail.com/blog/missed-calls-cost-businesses-more-than-ever), CallRail, September 25, 2025
1. [Small business callback statistics (16.7 million missed calls)](https://www.quo.com/blog/small-business-callback-statistics/), Quo, August 20, 2026
1. [Ruby pricing](https://www.ruby.com/pricing/), Ruby, checked October 19, 2026
1. [Smith.ai AI Receptionist pricing](https://smith.ai/pricing/ai-receptionist), Smith.ai, checked October 19, 2026

Checked 2026-10-20. Third-party prices and features change; check the vendor before you buy.

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Source: https://julius.dealsflow.ai/industries/law-firms/
Updated: 2026-10-20