What does a legal intake specialist do?
A legal intake specialist serves as the first point of contact for prospective clients and contributes greatly to their first impressions of your firm. By screening claims, a specialist allows attorneys and other members of your team to focus on their cases, improving the productivity of your firm.
Legal intake specialists also form relationships with professionals in similar roles at other firms to provide and receive referrals as needed. This helps ensure people receive legal assistance, even if their claims are not a good fit for your firm, and helps bring in new, quality clients.
Legal intake specialist skills and qualifications
To perform well in legal intake specialist careers, candidates need certain qualifications. Some skills that can contribute to success when completing legal intake specialist job duties include:
- Customer service skills to make prospective clients feel welcome
- High-level listening skills to gain a thorough understanding of claims
- Demonstrated interviewing skills to know which questions to ask to gather more information
- Strong written and oral communication skills to explain next steps and compose client profiles for attorneys
- Basic understanding of various legal specialties to evaluate the suitability of your firm and recommend other firms as needed
- Organizational skills to keep track of prospective clients’ contact and case information
- Multitasking ability to move quickly from one inquiry to another
- Knowledge of word processor, spreadsheet, email and database software
Legal intake specialist experience requirements
If you represent a large, busy law firm, you may wish to focus only on candidates who have previous experience working as a legal intake specialist to reduce the amount of on-the-job training the new hire will need. At smaller law firms, a work history that includes two or more years of customer service or sales experience may be adequate preparation for filling your open position.
Legal intake specialist education and training requirements
Generally, a high school diploma or GED is the minimum education needed to work as a legal intake specialist. However, some firms prefer to hire candidates who have associate or bachelor’s degrees in legal studies, communications or a related field.
Some community colleges and job training academies offer legal intake specialist training programs that usually last a few months to a year. Candidates who have completed one of these programs may require less on-the-job training.
Legal intake specialist salary expectations
According to Indeed Salaries, the average salary for a legal intake specialist is $33,867 per year. The actual salaries paid in legal intake specialist careers vary based on experience, education and geographic location.
Legal intake specialist salary expectations
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Common salary:
20.54 HOURLY -
Typical salaries range from
7.25 -42.35 HOURLY - Find more information on Indeed Salaries
*Indeed data –
Job description samples for similar positions
If the open position at your firm doesn’t fully match the role of a legal intake specialist, consider the descriptions for these related jobs:
Legal intake specialist job description FAQs
What is the difference between a legal intake specialist and a legal secretary?
A legal secretary performs administrative tasks, such as transcribing attorney notes, updating pleadings and discovery binders and proofreading legal documents. Although legal intake specialists sometimes help with these duties as needed, their primary job is to screen and onboard new clients.
What is the difference between a legal intake specialist and a paralegal?
A paralegal helps attorneys handle their assigned cases by conducting in-depth research, writing court documents and performing other tasks. The position requires more legal training and education than what is necessary to succeed as a legal intake specialist.
What should you look for in a legal intake specialist resume?
If your law firm often receives calls from non English speakers, fluency in a foreign language that is commonly spoken in your area may be a desirable skill to see on legal intake specialist resumes. Because organizational and communication skills are vital to the position, assess how clearly information is grouped and presented.
*Indeed provides this information as a courtesy to users of this site. Please note that we are not your recruiting or legal advisor, we are not responsible for the content of your job descriptions, and none of the information provided herein guarantees performance.