Guides

Personal Injury Intake: The Questions That Matter in the First Conversation

By Erika Nagy — attorney, admitted in New York, Florida, and Washington, D.C. · Founder of Lexara AI · November 2026

The short version

The first conversation with a new injury client has three jobs: make sure the firm can reach the person again, collect what the conflict check needs and spot anything time-sensitive. It is not the place to judge the case. Seven questions, asked in a sensible order, cover it. Everything else, from fault to what the case is worth, waits for the attorney. This applies whoever answers: a receptionist, an outside service or an intake tool on your website.

What the first conversation is for

Someone who was just hurt often reaches a firm tired, in pain or worried about money. They want to know that someone heard them and what happens next.

The firm needs three things from that first contact:

A way back to the person. A correct name, phone number and email, confirmed.
What the conflict check needs. The name of the other driver, business or company, if the person knows it.
Anything that cannot wait. An adjuster pushing for a statement, papers to sign, a date someone mentioned.

A longer conversation is not always a better one. Under ABA Model Rule 1.18 and its state versions, information a prospective client shares can create duties for the firm, even if it never takes the case. Collecting what the team needs, and no more, protects both sides.

The questions, in order

“Can you tell me a little about what happened?” Keep it open. The kind of accident and roughly when is enough. Do not offer examples or a list of case types.
“What county or city did this happen in, and which state?” Ask it the same way for every caller. It tells the team whether the matter is in an area the firm serves, without the caller feeling screened.
“Has an insurance company been in touch with you?” A yes changes how quickly the attorney may want to call back.
“Has anyone asked you to sign anything, give a recorded statement or accept an offer? Has anyone mentioned a deadline?” This is the question most first conversations skip, and the one most likely to make a lead urgent.
“If you know it, what is the name of the other driver, business or company?” Explain why in one sentence: the firm checks for conflicts before anyone talks details, and it protects them. If they do not know, move on.
“What is your full name, the best phone number and your email?” Ask for all three together. Ask which language they prefer.
The read-back. Repeat what you wrote down and ask the person to confirm it. A mistyped phone number is a lost client.

The order can bend to the conversation. If someone opens with “an adjuster keeps calling me”, you already have the answer to question 3. Do not ask it again.

What to leave for the attorney

Some questions sound simple and are not. Each one is a legal judgment about that person’s situation:

Do I have a case?
What is my case worth?
Was it my fault?
Should I talk to the adjuster or take the offer?
How long do I have?

A good answer at intake is the same every time: the attorney will go over that with you. Then go on to the next question. The same goes for medical detail. Whether the person saw a doctor may matter later. Their diagnosis, body parts and treatment belong in the attorney’s conversation, not in an intake note. If someone describes an emergency, the answer is 911.

What makes a call same-day

Most injury leads should hear back quickly. Some cannot wait until morning:

An adjuster asking for a recorded statement or offering a quick settlement.
Papers the person has been asked to sign.
A date someone has told them about, such as a deadline or a hearing.
A caller who says they are being pressured.

When one of these comes up, mark the record urgent and say why in a few words. “URGENT: adjuster asked for a recorded statement tomorrow” tells the attorney more than a star next to a name.

When the caller speaks Spanish

A first conversation in English with someone more at ease in Spanish usually ends shorter than it should. If your firm takes Spanish-speaking clients, the first conversation should happen in Spanish too, by a bilingual person or a tool that holds the whole conversation in Spanish. Keep the person’s own first sentence in their words, under the English record. The attorney then sees exactly what the person said before anyone interpreted it.

What the attorney should receive

One short record, the same shape every time:

Name, phone and email, confirmed by the caller.
The kind of accident and roughly when.
County or city and state.
The other party’s name, for the conflict check.
Whether an insurer has been in touch.
Urgency, with the reason.
The language of the conversation.

That fits on one screen. If your intake produces a page of notes nobody reads before the call back, it is collecting too much.

A five-minute check of your own intake

Call your own number after hours, or open the chat on your website, and pretend you were rear-ended yesterday. Then ask yourself:

Did anyone ask whether an insurer had been in touch?
Did anyone ask whether you had been asked to sign something?
Did anyone ask for the other driver’s name?
Did anyone read your details back?
Did anyone tell you what your case was worth? (They should not have.)

Then look at what reached the firm. If it does not match what you said, fix the intake before the next real caller.

The bottom line

A good personal injury intake is short, careful and the same every time. It asks seven questions, stops where the attorney’s work begins and flags what cannot wait. For a ready-made form with these fields, see our free personal injury intake template.

Common questions

Should intake ask about injuries?
Only in general terms, if at all. Detailed medical information belongs in the attorney’s conversation, and the less a first contact collects, the less the firm has to manage later.

What if the caller does not know the other driver’s name?
Move on. The police report or the insurer will usually have it. Note that it is unknown so the team knows to look.

Can intake staff tell a caller they have a good case?
No. Even an encouraging word can sound like an opinion on the merits. The attorney decides, after the conflict check.

Can an AI tool handle personal injury intake?
It can ask these questions at any hour, in more than one language, as long as it says it is AI, never gives advice and passes everything to a lawyer. See our guide to AI for personal injury lawyers.

Lexara AI’s intake assistant asks these questions on your website at any hour. It starts with an open question, asks every visitor for the county or city and state the same way, asks whether an insurer has been in touch and whether anyone is pressing them to sign or accept something, and asks for the other party’s name with a one-line note that it protects them. It never estimates case value, fault or deadlines, never asks for medical detail, reads the details back before sending and holds the conversation in English, Spanish or Haitian Creole. Your team receives the record in English. Try the live demo on our homepage.

ABA Model Rule 1.18 (duties to prospective clients) and Florida Rule 4-1.18; Florida Bar Ethics Opinion 24-1 (January 19, 2024) on chatbots. All paraphrased. Rules differ by state; nothing on this page is legal advice. Checked November 2, 2026.