Chestnut Hill Legal increased lead-to-client conversion rates by approximately 50% after partnering with Smith.ai to manage legal intake, lead qualification, call answering, and appointment scheduling. The outsourced intake model reduced attorney interruptions, improved responsiveness to prospective clients, and created more time for legal work and client service.
Company
Chestnut Hill LegalÂ
Services Provided
Call answering
Legal intake
Lead qualification
Prospective-client screening
Appointment scheduling
Client communication support
Virtual receptionist services
Industry
Legal Services
Locations
United States
Operating Model
Growing law firm supported by outsourced legal intake and virtual receptionist services integrated into its client acquisition workflow.Â
Delivery Structure
Smith.ai became the firm’s first point of contact for incoming inquiries, handling call answering, lead qualification, intake management, appointment scheduling, and prospective-client communications before attorney engagement.Â
Why This Approach
As client demand increased, inbound calls and intake activities were creating ongoing interruptions throughout the workday. The firm needed a more scalable intake process that could improve responsiveness to prospective clients while allowing the attorney to spend more time on legal work and client matters.Â
Success Snapshot
Performance Drivers
- Dedicated legal intake and virtual receptionist support
- Outsourced call answering and prospective-client screening
- Structured lead qualification process before attorney engagement
- Appointment scheduling integrated into the intake workflow
- Consistent first-response coverage for inbound inquiries
Outcomes
- Approximately 50% increase in lead-to-client conversion rates
- Improved responsiveness to prospective clients
- Reduced attorney interruptions
- More time available for legal work
- Improved intake efficiency
- Stronger client acquisition support
Company Background
Chestnut Hill Legal is a U.S.-based law firm founded by Louis DiLello. As the firm grew, managing prospective-client inquiries, intake conversations, and appointment scheduling became an increasingly important operational responsibility.
Like many growing law firms, the business needed to balance client acquisition activities with the delivery of legal services and client representation.
Industry and Operating Context
Law firms frequently rely on attorneys to manage a combination of legal work, client service, business development, and prospective-client communications. For smaller and growing firms, intake management often becomes a significant operational responsibility.
Answering calls, screening inquiries, scheduling consultations, and responding to prospective clients are important activities, but they can also consume valuable time that could otherwise be spent on legal work. As inquiry volume grows, maintaining responsiveness while preserving attorney productivity becomes increasingly challenging.
Core Problem
Before implementing outsourced intake support, Louis DiLello personally handled many inbound calls and prospective-client interactions.
As client demand increased, these responsibilities created recurring interruptions throughout the workday. Time spent answering calls, screening inquiries, and coordinating consultations reduced the amount of time available for legal work and client service.
The firm needed a more structured approach to intake management that could improve responsiveness, support lead conversion efforts, and create additional capacity for legal work without hiring additional internal staff.
At the same time, maintaining a positive first impression for prospective clients remained an important priority.
Offshore Solution
Chestnut Hill Legal partnered with Smith.ai to implement outsourced legal intake and virtual receptionist services.
Smith.ai became the firm’s primary point of contact for incoming inquiries, answering calls, screening prospective clients, qualifying leads, and scheduling consultations. Rather than requiring attorney involvement at the beginning of every interaction, inquiries were managed through a structured intake process before being escalated when appropriate.
The service was integrated directly into the firm’s client acquisition workflow, creating a consistent process for managing prospective-client communications and appointment scheduling.
This approach allowed legal intake activities to be handled by dedicated specialists while the attorney remained focused on legal services, casework, and client representation.
Results
The outsourced legal intake initiative delivered measurable improvements across lead conversion, responsiveness, and attorney productivity.
Measurable Outcomes
According to Smith.ai’s published customer case study, Chestnut Hill Legal achieved an approximately 50% increase in lead-to-client conversion rates following implementation. This represents the strongest documented outcome from the engagement and highlights the impact of a more structured intake and qualification process.
Operational Outcomes
The firm also improved responsiveness to prospective clients by ensuring inbound inquiries were answered and managed consistently through the outsourced intake process.
Attorney interruptions caused by inbound calls and intake activities were reduced, allowing more time to be dedicated to legal work and client matters. By shifting call answering, lead qualification, and appointment scheduling to Smith.ai, the firm created additional operational capacity without requiring the attorney to manage every prospective-client interaction personally.
Business Impact
The transition from attorney-managed intake to a dedicated legal intake system strengthened the firm’s ability to manage client acquisition activities while maintaining focus on legal service delivery.
As Louis DiLello explained: “With Smith.ai, I’m completely covered.”
Conclusion
This case demonstrates how a growing law firm improved client acquisition performance by outsourcing legal intake, lead qualification, and virtual receptionist functions.
By moving call answering, prospective-client screening, and appointment scheduling into a structured intake process, Chestnut Hill Legal reduced interruptions, improved responsiveness, and created more time for legal work.
The result was an approximately 50% increase in lead-to-client conversion rates and a more scalable client acquisition model that supported both business growth and operational efficiency.
