Can you outsource intake without anyone giving legal advice?

Short answer: Yes. An outside team can own intake as long as it collects facts you approved, books time with your lawyers, and sends every legal question to a lawyer. The firm keeps the professional judgment and the supervision. It is the same line that already applies to your own staff.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Check your own law society's rules before you change how intake works.

What counts as intake, and what counts as legal advice?

Intake is collecting facts and moving the person to the right next step. Legal advice is telling a person what their situation means under the law, or what they should do about it.

• Intake: who the employer was, the dates of hire and termination, which documents they have, how to reach them, and a time to speak with a lawyer.
• Advice: whether they have a claim, what it might be worth, which deadline applies to them, and whether to sign a severance offer.

If the answer would change with the law or with the facts of their case, it belongs to a lawyer.

What the rules say about work done by non-lawyers

Canada's law societies base their conduct rules on the Federation of Law Societies' Model Code of Professional Conduct. Rule 6.1-1 says a lawyer has complete professional responsibility for all business entrusted to them, and must directly supervise the staff and assistants they delegate tasks to. Rule 6.1-3 lists what a lawyer must not permit a non-lawyer to do, including:

• accept cases on behalf of the lawyer
• give legal advice
• act finally without reference to the lawyer in matters involving professional legal judgment
• be held out as a lawyer

Ontario's Rules of Professional Conduct have their own section on supervision. Wording and numbering can differ by province, so read the version that applies to you.

What a managed intake team can do

1. Reply to a new inquiry with a message you approved.
2. Ask the screening questions you wrote, and record the answers.
3. Collect documents such as a termination letter, a contract, or a severance offer.
4. Book a consultation on your lawyer's calendar, and send reminders.
5. Follow up after the consult and on the retainer your lawyer sends, on your schedule.
6. Route every legal question to your lawyer, with the context attached.
7. Close a file with a reason when the person says no or stops replying, under a stop rule you set.

What it must never do

1. Tell someone whether they have a case, or what it is worth.
2. Tell someone which limitation period or deadline applies to them.
3. Accept a matter for the firm, or tell someone the firm will act for them.
4. Send or negotiate a retainer on its own. Your lawyer sends it.
5. Present itself as a lawyer, or as the source of the lawyer's advice.

Who supervises an outsourced intake team?

The firm does. The work moves to the provider. The professional responsibility stays with the firm. In practice, a named lawyer approves the screening questions, the message templates, and the rules for escalation, and reviews how intake is going at a set interval.

How screening questions get approved

1. Your lawyer writes or approves each question and each message.
2. Every change needs the same approval, and the approval is recorded.
3. The team asks only those questions.
4. Answers are recorded as the person gave them, without interpretation.

What happens when a person asks a legal question?

The team acknowledges the question, tells the person a lawyer will answer it, and routes it to the right lawyer with the context attached. Nobody on the intake side answers it, even when the answer seems obvious.

Does AI change the answer?

The line stays the same. An AI agent that replies to inquiries is a tool the provider operates and the firm approves. It should work from approved messages and questions, route legal questions to a lawyer, and keep a log of what it sent. The provider is accountable for the tool, and the firm remains responsible for the practice.

What to put in the agreement with an intake provider

• What the provider does, and a plain statement that it does not give legal advice or accept matters.
• Who at the firm approves messages, questions, and changes.
• How legal questions reach a lawyer, and how fast.
• Where personal information is stored, who can see it, and how long it is kept.
• Consent and contact rules for texts and emails, including how opt-outs are honoured.
• What is logged, and how the firm can review it.
• How the arrangement ends, and how records come back to the firm.

How Intakes.io draws the line

We own the intake steps and the follow-up: the first reply, screening on your questions, booking, reminders, and the stretch after the consult. Every message is one you approved. Every legal question goes to your lawyer. Your lawyer sends the retainer and makes every legal call. See how the rules are built into the workflow and what stays with your team.

Frequently asked questions

Can a law firm outsource intake in Canada?

Yes, as long as the outside team only does work a non-lawyer may do under the firm's supervision, such as collecting facts, booking, and follow-up, and every legal question goes to a lawyer. Check your own law society's rules.

Can an intake coordinator give legal advice?

No. Intake staff, inside or outside the firm, can collect facts and book time with a lawyer. Advice on the person's situation comes from a lawyer.

Who is responsible if an outsourced intake team makes a mistake?

The lawyer keeps professional responsibility for the work they delegate. That is why approvals, escalation rules, and regular review matter. The agreement with the provider should say how errors are reported and fixed.

Can an intake team tell someone about a deadline?

It can confirm when their consult is. It should not say which legal deadline applies to their situation. That is a lawyer's call.

Sources

• Federation of Law Societies of Canada, Model Code of Professional Conduct (2024), rule 6.1
• Law Society of Ontario, Rules of Professional Conduct

General information, not legal advice. Last reviewed September 2026.