Best Legal Answering Services 2025

Looking for the best legal answering services for your law firm is crucial in providing great service for your existing clients and acquiring new ones. This guide walks you through the many phone call answering services in the market today, and which ones are likely to work best for your firm.

What is a Legal Answering Service?

A legal answering service is a phone call answering solution made specifically for lawyers and law firms. This service ensures that incoming calls to your firm are promptly answered and queries and concerns are sufficiently addressed.

Legal answering services typically include:

• Answering legal calls 24/7
• Taking messages
• Qualifying leads
• Scheduling appointments

Why Do Lawyers Need an Answering Service: 5 Benefits

Legal answering services benefit law firms in many ways:

• Provide professional service. Having a consistent and streamlined system of answering calls lets your clients know they’ve reached a legitimate law practice.
• Improved client experience. Callers whose concerns are addressed are likely to become satisfied clients.
• Lower cost. Compared to full-time receptionists, law firm answering services are less costly but are just as efficient in handling client calls.
• Better lawyer focus. When calls are managed, lawyers aren’t distracted by constantly ringing phones and can concentrate on their day-to-day tasks.
• Never miss a call. On busy days, calls may go unanswered. Having a legal answering service ensures this never happens.

8 Best Virtual Receptionists for Law Firms

Here are the eight best virtual receptionists for law firms:

1. Lex Reception

Lex Reception is a legal answering service tailored to law firms of all sizes. Receptionists are trained in the legal field to deliver various call-taking tasks such as recording messages, scheduling appointments, and client intake.

Pricing: Entry: $325/month; Best Value: $350/month; Standard: $595/month

Key features:

• 24/7 support
• Spanish language support
• Includes client intake
• Integrates with popular legal management software

Pros:

• Friendly and professional staff
• Mobile app
• Great for lead generation

Cons:

• Challenges with high-volume calls
• Issues with delayed responses

2. Ruby

Ruby is a virtual receptionist service based in Portland, Oregon. It provides businesses like law firms with on-demand, part-time, and 24/7 phone answering services. In addition to answering phone calls, Ruby also provides live chat features for a multi-channel approach.

Pricing: 50 minutes: $245/month; 100 minutes: $385/month; 200 minutes: $705/month; 500 minutes: $1,695/month

Key features:

• Customizable coverage (on-demand, part-time, or 24/7)
• Bilingual support (English and Spanish)
• Call transfers

Pros:

• Accurate call screening
• Customizable call routing

Cons:

• Occasional reports of unprofessional staff

3. Back Office Betties

Back Office Betties is a call answering service specializing in handling legal calls. The company hires and trains US-based virtual receptionists to screen calls, schedule appointments, process payments, and do custom legal intakes for law firms.

Pricing: 100 minutes: $360/month; 200 minutes: $650/month; 400 minutes: $1,255/month

Key features:

• Specialized for law firms
• Integrates with Clio, LawPay, and Acuity
• Receptionists are trained to close sales

Pros:

• Impressive customer service skills
• Great for small firms on a budget

Cons:

• Doesn’t provide 24/7 support

4. Smith.ai

Smith.ai is a legal answering service that fits the needs of lawyers and law firms in any practice area. This service provides 24/7 coverage and extends its call-answering features beyond scheduling appointments and answering queries. Smith.ai’s receptionists can make outbound calls to follow up with leads or make payment reminders to existing clients.

Pricing: Starter (30 calls): $292.50/month; Basic (90 calls): $787.50/month; Pro (300 calls): $2,025/month; Enterprise: Call for pricing

Key features:

• CRM integration (Zapier, Clio, HubSpot, etc.)
• Dedicated, toll-free number
• Outbound calls
• 24/7 coverage

Pros:

• Fairly easy set-up process
• Great lead generation
• Competitive pricing

Cons:

• Issues with billing
• Limited communication features

5. Legal Conversion Center

Legal Conversion Center is a legal intake service firm with over 10 years of experience. The company provides exclusive intake services for law firms, which include call handling, appointment scheduling, and contract signing.

Pricing: Not available

Key features:

• Specialization in practice areas like personal injury
• English and Spanish support
• Provides follow-up calls to convert leads into clients

Pros:

• Experienced staff with legal knowledge
• Calls go through quality assurance
• No hidden charges

Cons:

• Inconsistent call quality

6. VoiceNation

VoiceNation is a phone answering service for various industries, including law firms and legal professionals. It employs legal receptionists to answer live calls and chat to answer queries and nurture leads. Law firms can customize calls with scripts and receptionists can forward messages to lawyers via email or text.

Pricing: Basic Plan (50 minutes): starts at $47/month; Business Plan (50 minutes): starts at $99/month; Pro Plan (100-150 minutes): starts at $229/month; Executive Plan (250-300 minutes): starts at $449/month; Enterprise Plan (500-600 minutes): starts at $799/month; Custom Plans: Call for pricing

Key features:

• 24/7 coverage
• Includes call forwarding
• Includes payment processing
• Online dashboard for viewing call metrics

Pros:

• Responsive and courteous personnel
• Customizable call scripts
• Proprietary software

Cons:

• More expensive than other services
• No free trial

7. PATLive

PATLive is a highly customizable call answering service that provides flexible service whether you only want help with overflow calls or 24/7 coverage. This service covers message taking, appointment scheduling, payment processing, call transfers, and event registrations. All receptionists are based in the US, with Spanish-speaking staff available if needed.

Pricing: Starter: $235/month; Standard: $415/month; Premium: $650/month; Pro: $1050/month

Key features:

• Customizable scripts
• Includes order processing
• US-based receptionists
• Integration with CRMs

Pros:

• Offers a free 14-day trial
• Professional service

Cons:

• Fixed billing plan
• Spanish support costs an extra $20/month

8. Posh

Posh is an app-based legal receptionist service based in Virginia Beach, with support for legal client intake, call screening and transfers, and appointment scheduling. Users can also request outbound calls to reach out to leads and existing clients.

Pricing: Chic (0 minutes): $65/month; Vogue (50 minutes): $125/month; Elegant (100 minutes): $210/month; Luxurious (200 minutes): $410/month; Prestigious (350 minutes): $685/month; Lavish (500 minutes): $950/month; Exclusive (1000 minutes): $1,850/month

Key features:

• 24/7 English support
• Includes outbound calls
• Integrates with Clio, Rocket Matter, and HubSpot

Pros:

• Easily accept or screen calls via the app
• Real-time message forwarding
• Flexible pricing plans

Cons:

• Spanish support is limited to business hours only

When Do Virtual Answering Services Not Make Sense?

In certain situations, lawyers might not necessarily need a virtual receptionist service. This can include:

• Budget restraints: If you’re a solo lawyer or a small firm, then spending for a receptionist might not be the best use of your resources.
• Personal preference: If you prefer to talk to all your potential clients yourself to achieve an immediate connection, you don’t need an answering service.
• You have a workaround: Some lawyers send an automated text message to someone when they can’t take a call. This works just as efficiently as having a call answering staff, as long as you call the client back when you’re available.

How To Choose The Right Answering Service for Your Firm

If you still want to hire a legal answering company, here are some factors to consider:

• Proven positive customer interactions. Do your research and ensure the call answering service provider has respectful, professional, and knowledgeable receptionists.
• Fair pricing. As much as possible, go for per-minute pricing so you get your money’s worth.
• Integration with existing systems. If you have a CRM or legal management software, make sure you can integrate the call answering system as well.

In addition to answering phone calls, many other things take up a lawyer’s time when they shouldn’t. Another task is marketing. Creating and implementing marketing campaigns to generate leads and grow your firm’s revenue takes time and effort.

If you want to get great results from your marketing without spending a minute on it, hire us to do your marketing for you. From social media to search engine optimization (SEO), we deliver tailor-made legal marketing projects that bring you more clients. Talk to us about your marketing needs today!