4 Best Law Firm Answering Services for 2025

With a growing law firm comes more clients, more cases, and, unfortunately, more administrative work. With legal answering services and virtual receptionists, law firms can lighten the load.

Answering services for attorneys helps by managing routine client calls and live chats so you can focus on practicing law. In addition, law firm phone answering service professionals can oversee tasks like legal client intake and appointment scheduling while routing more urgent or case-specific questions to your law firm.

Overall, these solutions help law firms save time and earn more leads. According to our 2024 Legal Trends Report, 33% of law firms gained 1-2 leads a week by using virtual receptionist services. We also discovered that 43% saved 1-5 hours each month by using virtual receptionists.

To help your law firm find the best fit, we’ve created a list of the best law firm answering services that integrate with MyCase. Pairing these powerful tools with MyCase’s comprehensive practice management platform can help your law firm become more efficient and profitable.

Disclaimer: Pricing was pulled from each site in December 2024. Current prices may vary.

Best Legal Answering Services at a Glance

Find highlights of each legal answering service below. We’ll also go over each tool in-depth if you’re looking for more information.

1. Answering Legal

Best for: Law firms that receive many calls and require customization

Answering Legal is a 24-hour legal answering service that offers complete customization over its offerings. Personalization ranges from tailoring how they greet customers to setting up how they’ll forward calls throughout the day. Their new app also allows you to easily find messages, see lead information, stay in constant contact with clients, and communicate with your team.

In addition to calls, their team offers legal intake answering services by overseeing the intake process and logging client details into your firm’s CRM. They also provide the same premium services to all customers without charging extra.

Key features:

• 24/7/365 live call answering, transferring, message taking, and overflow call handling to increase availability for clients
• Lead capturing, full legal intake, appointment scheduling, and integration with Google Screened to secure potential clients and swiftly move forward with cases
• Mobile app to manage communication with leads, clients, and your team
• Bilingual legal virtual receptionists who can communicate with clients in English and Spanish
• CRM integration to automatically sort calls, record information, and automate communication
• Customizable setup to tailor to your law firm’s needs

How Answering Legal integrates with MyCase: Answering Legal syncs client lead intake information directly to MyCase.

Pricing and Plans

Answering Legal’s per-minute rate decreases as you increase the minutes in your plan. They offer several pricing tiers, which include the following below:

• 100 minutes: $330/month
• 150 minutes: $479/month
• 200 minutes: $616/month
• 250 minutes: $737/month

2. LEX Reception

Best for: Law firms that need assistance with inbound and outbound calls

LEX Reception offers 24/7 legal virtual receptionist services that help manage incoming calls to answer questions, manage appointment scheduling, qualify leads, and handle client intake—all while your law firm stays focused on completing billable work.

You can provide custom scripts and tailor call handling preferences to suit your law firm. Their team also offers outbound calling services and live chat support to help capture more leads. LEX Reception’s mobile app is another great benefit that helps you communicate with clients and your team, oversee messages, and manage your account.

Key features:

• 24/7/365 legal receptionist availability to field calls and log information for you
• Overflow and after-hours answering to onboard new clients, qualify leads, and share updates with clients around the clock
• Screen calling, lead qualification, and live transfer to ensure you’re taking on the right calls
• Outbound calling to quickly follow up on questions and get clients through the door more efficiently
• Live chat service with simple implementation to earn more leads
• Mobile app to stay on top of messages, streamline communication with clients and your team, and your account
• Bilingual legal reception in English and Spanish

How LEX Reception integrates with MyCase: LEX Reception’s team syncs call information back to MyCase for easy follow-up.

Pricing and Plans

Each LEX Reception plan includes a set amount of minutes and service inclusions that increase with each tier. Their team rounds interactions up to the nearest minute and bills in one-minute increments.

Below are LEX Reception’s three most affordable plans. Larger plans include the same features as the “Best Value” plan for varying minutes and rates. The first 30 interactions under 30 seconds in each billing cycle are free.

• Entry: $425/month for 150 minutes, $2.75 for each additional minute, and a $75 setup fee
• Best Value: $450/month for 300 minutes and $2.25 for each additional minute
• Growth: $775/month for 500 minutes and $2.25 for each additional minute

3. Ruby

Best for: Solo and small-sized law firms who want support growing their business

Ruby’s Virtual Receptionist team offers solo and small businesses customized support through their friendly, human-powered team. Their U.S.-based receptionists take calls and engage live chats to quickly connect with customers, capture leads, and transfer warm leads or calls directly to you.

Ruby’s team can also make outbound calls, schedule appointments, and process payments to take administrative work off your plate. Meanwhile, your law firm can customize how they handle calls, gather information they collect, capture leads, and more.

Their Ruby app makes it easy to monitor activity, update preferences, and change call-handling instructions on the go. Ruby also offers the same features for all plans at no extra charge.

Key features:

• 24/7/365 professional receptionists who can support live answering, transferring, and forwarding via phone or live chat
• Unlimited voicemail boxes with personalized messages and instant access to recordings and message transcripts
• Support with appointment scheduling, payment processing, and outbound calling to quickly assist customers
• Lead capture support to screen unwanted messages, record key details, and transfer leads directly to you
• Option to use Ruby to host your phone number to avoid sharing your private number
• Mobile app that allows you to customize your preferences, change call handling instructions, and manage Ruby’s activity
• Bilingual receptionists available in English and Spanish

How Ruby integrates with MyCase: Ruby’s team records call details—with lead data, analytics, and communication syncing back to MyCase.

Pricing and Plans

Ruby’s pricing includes a Reception Plan for call answering, Chat Plan for chat answering, or a Bundled Plan that includes both services.

Virtual Receptionist Plans

• Lowest tier: $245/month for 50 minutes
• Second-highest tier: $385/month for 100 minutes
• Third-highest tier: $705/month for 200 minutes
• Highest tier: $1,695/month for 500 minutes

Live Chat Plans

• Lowest tier: $140/month for 10 chats
• Middle tier: $330/month for 30 chats
• Highest tier: $510/month for 50 chats

Bundled Plans

• Bundled Chat Ruby 10: $112/month for 10 chats when adding Chat to an existing Virtual Receptionist Plan
• Bundled Chat Ruby 30: $264/month for 30 chats when adding Chat to an existing Virtual Receptionist Plan
• Bundled Chat Ruby 50: $408/month for 50 chats when adding Chat to an existing Virtual Receptionist Plan

4. Smith.ai

Best for: Law firms seeking robust support converting leads through calls, text, and chat

Smith.ai leverages AI to work more efficiently and customize each conversation. Their team can instantly summarize calls, screen spam and sales calls, and share real-time call data in your dashboard.

In addition to their virtual receptionist services, Smith.ai also offers AI-powered voice assistants at more affordable rates compared to their virtual receptionist plans. Their voice assistant can handle entire phone calls and help answer questions, qualify leads, and collect caller information. It can also hand calls off to a human representative 24/7 if callers need further assistance.

Smith.ai also offers plans for outreach campaigns and an AI-powered web chat if you’re looking for more assistance.

Key features:

• 24/7 phone answering, outbound calling, SMS text answering, and website chat to service leads and customers wherever they are
• Integrates with several CRMs and practice management platforms to consolidate information
• Nurturing legal leads and client follow-up through phone, email, or text
• Detailed call summaries, daily digests, and call details available through their dashboard
• Rigorously trained North America-based agents with the ability to transfer calls internationally
• Bilingual receptionist availability in English and Spanish

How Smith.ai integrates with MyCase: Smith.ai automatically syncs call details and lead opportunities with MyCase.

Pricing and Plans

Smith.ai offers separate Virtual Receptionist, Voice Assistant, Outreach Campaign, and Web Chat plans. Each plan also includes add-ons that range from $0.25 up to $200. Also, some plan features are free until a set number of uses. We’ll go over all plans below.

Virtual Receptionist Plans

• Starter: $285/month for 30 calls, $10.50 for each additional conversation, and one free transfer destination
• Basic: $765/month for 90 calls, $9.50 for each additional conversation, and two free transfer destinations
• Pro: $1,950/month for 300 calls, $7.50 for each additional conversation, and 10 free transfer destinations
• Enterprise: Contact Smith.ai for details

Voice Assistant Plans

• Starter: $97.50/month for 30 calls and $4.25 for each additional conversation
• Basic: $270/month for 90 calls and $4 for each additional conversation
• Pro: $825/month for 300 calls and $3.75 for each additional conversation
• Enterprise: Contact Smith.ai for details

Outreach Campaign Plans

• Warm engagement: Prices start at $600/month, $12 per contact, 50 contacts minimum, with a $750 setup fee
• Cold prospecting: Prices start at $10,000/month, $10 per contact, 1,000 contacts minimum with a $750 setup fee

Web Chat Plans

• À la carte: $10 per live chat, two custom programming hours, and one free CRM integration
• Starter: $140/month for 20 live chats, $7 for each additional chat, two custom programming hours, and one free CRM integration
• Basic: $300/month for 50 live chats, $6 for each additional chat, five custom programming hours, and one free CRM integration
• Pro: $600/month for 120 live chats, $5 for each additional chat, 10 custom programming hours, and one free CRM integration

Law Firm Answering Service vs. Traditional Receptionists

Putting your trust in a remote legal answering service team that you’ll never see may feel intimidating. However, traditional receptionists may not be the best choice if your budget and needs can’t justify an additional hire. Below are the differences and aspects to consider for both options.

 Law Firm Answering Service

A 24-hour legal answering service can be an affordable alternative to paying an in-house receptionist or attempting to manage communication independently.

Rather than paying for one employee, you can pay a smaller fee to get a team of legal virtual receptionists to help streamline calls at all hours. Some companies also allow you to tailor services to ensure you’re only paying for what you need.

However, their services may not be enough if you need additional administrative help.

Traditional Receptionists

Traditional receptionists are great if you primarily work out of an office or need more flexible support.

In-house receptionists can work side-by-side with you if needed to troubleshoot calls or discuss questions that come up that day. They can also help welcome leads and clients, prepare materials for meetings, and keep the office organized and well-stocked.

However, an in-house receptionist may not be the best fit if you work remotely or if clients prefer asynchronous connections and updates. They’re also limited in their working hours and what they can accomplish individually.

Additionally, your law firm may need to consider other modern solutions. For example, you may benefit from virtual legal assistants if you need help organizing data and documents but don’t need them three feet away.

Other Legal Services to Consider for Client Communication

Answering services for attorneys are great for streamlining communication and improving your law firm’s lead management system. However, there are many other services that can optimize client and lead correspondence.

The following examples are other excellent client communication solutions that integrate with MyCase and organize information in one place.

• CallRail provides insights and analytics for call-based marketing campaigns. This tool transcribes and summarizes calls, uncovers trending questions and keywords from past calls, and helps determine your best marketing channels to increase leads.
• Hona allows law firms to automate custom client texts to share case updates, send mass messages, auto-request reviews, and more to improve communication while reducing the need for live client communication.
• Intaker offers tools to automate client lead intake and follow-ups for easy lead management. This solution also includes features like online video chat and two-way texting to make it easier to communicate and build rapport with clients.
• VXT is a lawyer-specific Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system that allows law firms to make calls via desktop or mobile apps. This tool also automatically takes call recordings, generates call summaries, and logs call times.

Pros and Cons of Legal Answering Services

Law firm phone answering services can help improve a law firm’s productivity and client satisfaction while also saving time. However, not every law firm is a good fit.

Consider the following pros and cons to decide whether your team is ready to invest in a legal answering service.

Pros:

• Spend less time on non-billable work by outsourcing calls and data entry to an external team.
• Increase lead capture by increasing availability and quality engagement with leads.
• Scale your business and increase billable hours without hiring more administrative staff.
• Improve your law firm’s organization by having legal receptionists sync call and client information with CRMs and practice management software.
• Enhance lead and client experience with improved responsiveness and attentiveness from your answering service team.

Cons:

• Allocate time for onboarding the team, perfecting scripts, and getting them familiar with your law firm—including when services, pricing, and other areas change.
• Have less oversight of your leads’ and clients’ experiences due to the remote nature of these services.
• Receive help strictly for covered services and potentially miss out on support for premium features or additional call support.

How to Choose A Law Firm Answering Service

A handful of legal answering businesses offer similar services but approach them in unique ways. Although it can be challenging to narrow down your choices, we recommend focusing on your law firm’s budget and unique needs.

For example, a solo law firm may only need minimal support answering calls, but a rapidly growing mid-sized law firm may require a more custom legal intake answering service to help nurture leads and streamline client interviews.

To help you choose the best legal answering service for your firm, review the following features for each service:

• Price model: Do they charge per minute? Do additional features cost extra? Do they offer free trials or consultations?
• Working hours: Are they available nights, weekends, and holidays?
• Included services: Do their plans encompass everything your law firm needs?
• Services with additional costs: Can your team afford these features? Are they necessary? Are they included in a competitor’s plan with no added fees?
• Plan customization: Do they offer custom pricing and plans? Do you have the flexibility to change plans as your law firm grows?
• Contract terms: Is there a minimum commitment period? Are there penalties for early cancellation?
• Integration: Is their team familiar with your CRM or practice management software? Can they seamlessly sync information between their team and your tools?
• User-friendliness and support services available: Are they available to help troubleshoot issues? Can they quickly implement changes?
• Data privacy and security protocols: How do they protect client and case information? Do their protocols align with local privacy laws?
• Ratings, reviews, and testimonials: What do customers appreciate most from their service? How do they compare with competitors?

Tips for Leveraging a Legal Answering Service for Your Law Firm

Consider legal answering services as a partnership. Templated client interview scripts and client intake support are a great start, but personalization and education can help prepare their team and improve your clients’ and leads’ call experience.

Implement these tips when you begin working with a law firm answering service.

• Create training resources like FAQ sheets, a list of local laws they must follow, and one-page fact sheets for your legal services that you can easily update.
• Provide clear and specific instructions for call forwarding and screening to avoid missing crucial calls.
• Leverage call summaries, insights, and data to inform how you can improve scripts, intake, and other elements of the client experience.
• Regularly check in to discuss changes and feedback.
• Take advantage of integrations to centralize call and communication information.
• Encourage clients and staff to share feedback on the service.

Improve Your Client Intake and Communication Process with MyCase

Law firm answering services are just one solution to consider when improving your client’s intake and communication experience.

For example, MyCase’s client intake lead management features provide law firms with a native, built-in CRM and dynamic lead forms to help you nurture and track prospective clients. Custom intake forms and e-signature capabilities can also make the onboarding experience more seamless for your client.

MyCase’s law firm client communications features can also help streamline correspondence beyond initial phone calls that an answering service may handle. MyCase includes built-in text messaging that syncs directly with the solution and can send automated updates and reminders. The platform also includes one-click setup client portals that allows clients to easily send and access information and documents related to their case.

Schedule a demo of MyCase today to learn how to streamline client intake and communication.