Made-up example firm
Night calls booked,
retainers signed by phone
Hartsell Ferrante Law is a made-up firm of four lawyers in Fort Wayne, Indiana, doing personal injury and family law. It shows how RetainerBooked, intake software for US law firms with 1 to 10 lawyers, runs a typical firm's week. Every name and figure here is an example.
- Texted consultation reminders
- Phone-signed retainers
- Every signed case tied to its ad
ExampleA made-up firm; every figure here is illustrative
Before the switch
Where callers waited at Hartsell FerranteCallers waiting at Hartsell Ferrante
Four lawyers, an intake specialist and a paralegal shared the main line and a single inbox. These six moments, with example figures, are where callers waited longest.
Hartsell Ferrante LawFort Wayne, Indiana, four lawyersExample
What changed
Three parts they lean on most
Hartsell Ferrante runs the whole plan, but three parts did most of the work in the example's first three months.
Website
Pages and numbers for every ad
We rebuilt the site with personal injury and family law pages and a landing page behind every ad, each showing a different tracking number.
- Car accident and divorce landing pages
- Spanish practice-area pages
- Booking from any page
- The search keyword saved on each call
One number on every pageIts own number per ad and page
Consultation booking
Consultations booked overnight and kept
Overnight, the AI receptionist sets the caller up with the attorney who takes that kind of case, then texts a confirmation. The afternoon before, a reminder text arrives, and one tap moves the time.
- Personal injury and family law calendars kept apart
- Busy times blocked from each attorney's Outlook calendar
- Text and email reminders before each consultation
- Zoom links for video consultations
A callback the next morning, if anyone rememberedBooked before hanging up
Texting
Texts until it's signed
Within a minute of a missed call, a text from the firm's own number reaches the caller. Retainers, filled in from the intake answers, arrive by text and are e-signed from a phone.
- Unanswered calls get an instant reply
- Replies wait in the intake inbox
- Follow-ups stop once signed
- Texts reach only people who contacted the firm
Five days per retainerSigned the same evening, usually
The rollout
Setup first, the numbers after
Our team did the setup while the firm kept working. These are the four stops in the example, with dates and figures made up to show a typical rollout.
Week one
Intake questions rebuilt
We rebuilt the paper packet as a PI questionnaire and a family-law questionnaire, wrote the AI receptionist's screening questions with the partners, and started porting the main number.
Day 14, live
Going live
Day 14 was launch day for the site, phones, questionnaires and AI receptionist. The port finished in week three; the old line forwarded until then.
Month one
The first report, by source
The monthly report set every signed case against its source. Local Services Ads came out ahead of search ads on cost per signed case.
By month three
Budget moved, retainers signed faster
With the partners' okay, our ad rep moved budget toward Local Services Ads, and the average retainer went from five days to sign to the same evening.
See your firm's version of this
In a demo we go through your practice areas, your phone lines and the ads you run, then show how the same month would look in RetainerBooked. Month to month, no setup fee, live in 14 days.
Small firms, on the same setup
Wesley T.Managing partner, PI firm, Tulsa LSAahead on signed casesWe could finally compare Local Services Ads with search ads by signed cases, and our ad budget followed the answer.
Beatrice V.Founding attorney, Sacramento Rebookednot no-showsFamily-law consultations sat empty a few times a month. Now the reminder text lets people move the time instead of skipping.
Rashad W.Criminal defense attorney, Atlanta Overnightcalls screenedAt night the AI asks about charges and the court date, and anything urgent reaches my phone right away.
Harriet B.Office manager, Grand Rapids On timesigning meetings, forms doneClients answer the questionnaire on their phones before they come in, so our signing meetings start on time.
Esteban R.Immigration attorney, El Paso Midnightbookings in SpanishCallers book a Spanish consultation at midnight, and my morning starts with their passport scans already uploaded to the card.
Lorena F.Intake manager, PI firm, Phoenix Same callretainer sentRetainers go out by text before the caller hangs up. Plenty are signed before I finish my notes.
Example questions
Questions about Hartsell Ferrante Law
What's real, what's made up, and what would carry over. Type Clio, example or start in the search box.
5 questions
Is Hartsell Ferrante Law real?
No. We invented the firm, its people and its numbers to show a typical setup.
Would our firm's numbers look like these?
Yours would depend on your call volume, the cases you take and what you spend on ads. What carries over is the setup: night calls answered, retainers e-signed from a phone, every signed case traced to its source.
Does the AI tell callers whether they have a case?
No. It never gives legal advice and never tells a caller whether they have a case; it takes the details and hands the caller to your attorneys. At Hartsell Ferrante, the partners okayed every screening question before day 14.
Does a signed client still need to go into Clio?
Yes, Clio keeps the matter. When a client signs, we send their name, contact details and intake answers on to your case software through a connector, so no one retypes them.
How fast could we start?
Two weeks after kickoff, your site, phones, intake forms and AI receptionist are working. Porting your current number may take longer, texting starts once carriers approve the registration, and Google Verified depends on Google's own checks.
Or try these
Talk through yours
Email Quinn at sales@retainerbooked.com to see how your own practice areas would be set up.
Quinn HadleyAccount manager
Request a demo