The best phone system for law firms

Every client conversation timed, summarised and filed against the matter: a work line on your mobile, kept well away from your personal number.

Get started now Book a demo
No commitment · Number live in 2 minutes
Countries included in the base plan · +160 countries on request

Hundreds of companies use to make every call pay off

The situation

What holds you back today

01

A personal mobile used to speak to clients

02

Phone conversations that never reach the matter file

03

Business development done informally, whenever there is time

The answer

What Skipcall changes

A dedicated number on mobile and web

The mobile app →

Transcript and summary attached to the matter

Recording and transcription →

Contact campaigns aimed at professional referrers

The parallel dialer →

Specific to your industry

What the Code of Conduct allows, and what it rules out

A solicitor in England and Wales may advertise, and may approach a business directly. What the SRA Code of Conduct rules out is the unsolicited approach to members of the public to advertise legal services, the exception being current and former clients. The cold call to a consumer is therefore out, while the telephone keeps its place everywhere else.

The cold call to a member of the public is out

The Code is explicit: you do not make unsolicited approaches to members of the public in order to advertise legal services, other than to current or former clients. The telephone comes back into its own as soon as the person has enquired, asked to be called back, or is already a client of the firm.

Approaching a business is a different question

The restriction is written around members of the public. Calling a company, an in house legal team or a professional contact is not caught by it, but it is caught by the marketing rules: the number is screened against the Corporate Telephone Preference Service, UK GDPR still requires a lawful basis, and a request not to be called again is acted on immediately.

The referral network is not a client

Calling an accountant, a surveyor, a trade body or another firm to introduce yourself is not an approach to a member of the public. That is where the telephone genuinely builds a practice. Remember that a referral arrangement has to be disclosed to the client in writing, and that referral fees remain prohibited in personal injury matters.

Confidentiality covers the recordings too

The duty of confidentiality, and legal professional privilege where it applies, extend to a recorded call, its transcript and its summary. Decide before you switch the feature on where those files are hosted, who in the firm can open them and how long they are kept. Calls to the other side's solicitor are not automatically protected, which is a reason to choose what gets recorded rather than recording everything.

The conflict check comes before the conversation

One call is sometimes enough to take in information that would then stop you acting for the other side. The check is on the caller's name and on the opponent's, and it happens at first contact, before you get into the facts.

None of this stops a firm from organising its telephones. It moves the use towards existing clients, live matters and the professional network, and leaves the approach to the public alone.

The script

Calling back an enquiry, and calling the network

This script is not for cold calling. It covers the two calls a firm can make without going near the SRA's restriction on unsolicited approaches to members of the public: calling back someone who has written in or asked to be called, and introducing yourself to a professional referrer. The cold call to a consumer does not appear here, because it is not permitted.

The opener, calling back someone who wrote in

“[Full name], from [firm]. You wrote to us on [day] about [subject]. Before we get into it, can I take your full name and the name of the person or company on the other side?”

The opponent's name is asked for before anything else: a single call is enough to take in information that would then stop you acting for the other party.

If the firm records its calls

“I should tell you that this call is recorded and that the note will go on the file. Say so if you would rather I turned it off.”

The information has to come before the recording. What comes out of it, transcript and summary included, sits inside the duty of confidentiality exactly like the file.

If they ask what it is going to cost

“I cannot give you a figure until I have seen the papers. What I can tell you now is how my charges work: [hourly rate, fixed fee, agreement], and you will have that in writing before I do anything at all.”

Clients are entitled to the best possible information about the likely overall cost, at the outset and as the matter goes on. The question comes up on every first call, so the wording is worth preparing once.

If they compare you with another firm

“I will not comment on another firm's work. What I can do is tell you what I would do on your matter and how long it would take. You decide after that.”

Publicity must not be misleading, and a comparison offered on the phone is one the client has no way of checking. Declining it is both safer and more convincing.

The introduction call to a referrer

“[First name], I am a solicitor doing [area of law] in [town]. Your clients almost certainly ask you [subject] questions you would rather not answer on their behalf. Half an hour, so that you know what I take on and what I do not.”

An accountant, a surveyor or a trade body is not a member of the public, so this call is not the approach the Code restricts. If work starts to flow, the arrangement is disclosed to the client in writing, and referral fees stay prohibited in personal injury matters.

Calling an existing client on a live matter

“I am calling about [matter]. Two things to decide: [X] and [Y]. Give me five minutes, and I will confirm in writing whatever we agree.”

Saying how many points there are and how long it will take keeps the call inside the time you promised, and gives the client the written trail they expect.

At Skipcall, every call is recorded, transcribed and summarised, so the script gets corrected against what your reps actually say rather than what we imagine they say.

Avoid this

Three mistakes this industry makes on the phone

The mistake

Calling a consumer from a bought list to offer your services.

Do this instead

The Code rules out unsolicited approaches to members of the public to advertise legal services, other than to current or former clients. Write, publish, get introduced, and call once the person has come to you. For businesses the rule is different, but the number still gets screened against the Corporate Telephone Preference Service first.

The mistake

Getting into the facts before you have the other side's name.

Do this instead

Ask for the caller's name and the opponent's in the first few sentences. The conflict check happens at first contact; afterwards it is too late, the information is already with you.

The mistake

Letting recording and automatic summaries run across every call, including those to the other side.

Do this instead

Correspondence with another firm is not automatically protected, and a recording, its transcript and its summary all sit inside the duty of confidentiality. Settle before go live which calls are recorded, where the files are hosted, who in the firm can open them and how long they are kept.

A calendar full of meetings starts with a call.

Get started now Book a demo

No commitment · Number live in 2 minutes

FAQ

Frequently asked questions, Law Firms

Not a member of the public. The SRA Code of Conduct provides that you do not make unsolicited approaches to members of the public in order to advertise legal services, with an exception for current and former clients. Nothing stops you calling someone who has enquired, asked to be called back, or who is already a client. Businesses are a different question: an approach to a company is not caught by that rule, though the number is still screened against the Corporate Telephone Preference Service and UK GDPR still applies. Calls to accountants, surveyors or trade bodies are professional contact, not an offer of service to the public.
Technically yes, legally on conditions. The other party has to be told before the recording starts. More to the point, the recording, its transcript and its summary sit inside the duty of confidentiality, and inside privilege where it applies, exactly like the file itself: where they are hosted, who in the firm can open them and how long they are kept all have to be settled before the feature goes live. Calls to the other side's solicitor are worth leaving outside the recorded perimeter.
Three criteria come before any sales feature: a work number separate from the personal one and usable out of the office; a history of conversations that can be attached to the matter; and documented control over where recordings are hosted and who can reach them. Check what the tool does not do as well. Skipcall receives calls on the line they were made to but does not route them, with no IVR, no queue and no distribution to a group, so a firm with a reception desk keeps its switchboard alongside.
The approach to a member of the public is not the route. What is: publishing the cost information the transparency rules require, and using the telephone for what it does best, keeping a referral network alive, calling former clients back, following up the contacts that come out of talks, articles and training. It is a matter of regularity rather than volume, which mostly means knowing who was called and when. Any referral arrangement is disclosed to the client in writing, and referral fees remain prohibited in personal injury work.
It is the first thing to put in place. A dedicated number keeps you reachable without exposing your personal line, lets you switch off out of hours without becoming unreachable, and keeps the record of conversations attached to the firm rather than to a person. When someone joins, leaves or takes over a matter, that separation stops a client's history walking out with a private phone.

Other industries that prospect by phone

See all 25 industries →

Umbrella companies & contracting

Two markets to call at the same time, contractors and the agencies that supply them, from one tool.

Staffing & temp agencies

A shift to cover for tomorrow morning: call 40 temps in 10 minutes.

IT services & managed services

Placing a consultant and opening an account run on the same lever: the number of useful conversations.

See what it does on your own lists

A demo runs on your own contacts, not on a sample data set.

Try it → Book a demo

Personalized demonstration