Personal injury and disability firms

An injury or disability claim has deadlines before it has a retainer

Intakes.io is a managed intake service for law firms in Canada. For personal injury and long-term disability firms, it handles the first reply, the intake questions, the follow-up for documents and consents, and the signature chase on the contingency fee agreement. You get an intake CRM and the team that manages it. The lawyer keeps every decision.

The three moments
The limitation period and the insurer deadlines
The contingency fee agreement signature
The record chase and the denial letter
The three moments

The three moments that decide the outcome

The limitation period and the insurer deadlines

The scene

Someone was hurt in a collision months ago and is not sure what has been filed with the insurer. The inquiry says "a while ago" and nothing else.

The usual explanation

The lawyer will sort out the dates on the consult.

The actual cause

The date of the accident and the date and deadline on any insurer letter are never captured at first contact, so a file with a short window waits in the same queue as one without. The basic limitation period in Ontario is two years under the Limitations Act, 2002, and accident benefits have shorter notice and application steps of their own. The intake step is to record the accident date and every date on an insurer letter.

What it costs

The urgent file waits behind the rest. Intakes.io records the dates the person gives and flags the inquiry for a lawyer. The lawyer decides what the dates mean.

The contingency fee agreement signature

The scene

The lawyer takes the file on contingency and sends the agreement. The person is in pain, on medication, or waiting for a family member to help with the paperwork.

The usual explanation

They will sign when they are ready.

The actual cause

Nobody owns the days between sent and signed, and nobody is assigned to answer a question about the agreement. In Ontario a contingency fee agreement has to be in writing, signed by the client and the lawyer, and in the standard form the Law Society of Ontario requires. Until it is signed, there is no file.

What it costs

The file does not start, and the limitation clock does.

The record chase and the denial letter

The scene

A referral partner sends you a name, or a person arrives holding a long-term disability denial letter. The letter gives an appeal window, and the records still have to come from several treating providers.

The usual explanation

The client will send the records when they can.

The actual cause

Nobody tracks which records are in, which are missing, and how much of the appeal window is left. The window is set by the policy and the denial letter, and the intake step is to record the date on the letter the day it arrives.

What it costs

The lawyer finds out what the file is missing on the day of the deadline, and the referral partner remembers who made the person wait.

Who does what

What Intakes.io handles, what stays with you

Intakes.io handles
Replies to every call, form, text and WhatsApp message, day and night, in wording you approve
Records the accident date, the other parties named, and the date and deadline on any insurer or denial letter, as the person states them
Screens on the rules you approve, such as injury type, province and whether a denial letter exists, and flags dated files for a lawyer
Books the consult, reminds, and follows up after a no-show
Follows up with the person for the documents and consents you asked for, and keeps a list of what is in and what is missing
Chases the signature on the agreement you sent, and stops when it is signed or the file is closed
Stays with you
Conflict checks
The decision to take the file, including merits and fee
Legal advice, including what a deadline means and what to file
Contact with insurers, tribunals and treating providers
The contingency fee agreement itself: you draft it, you send it
Closing a file
Example

Example: Marlow Reach Injury Law (fictional firm)

Marlow Reach Injury Law
Hi Priya, this is Marlow Reach Injury Law. Thanks for getting in touch. So a lawyer can help you faster, have you received a letter about your disability benefits?
Yes. They denied my claim. The letter says I can appeal.
Thank you. What is the date on the letter, and does it say how long you have to appeal?
Dated September 12. It gives a number of days, I'll send a photo.
Please upload a photo of it here: portal.example/upload. I have noted the date you gave for the lawyer. This is not legal advice.
Uploaded. Can I speak to someone this week?
Our lawyers handle disability denials. Pick a time for a free 30-minute call: Tuesday 1:00, Wednesday 10:30 or Thursday 3:00. After the call, if the lawyer takes the file, the lawyer sends the agreement and I follow up on the signature and on the list of your treating doctors.
FAQs

Questions personal injury and disability firms ask

How much does Intakes.io cost?
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It is a fixed monthly fee plus a one-time implementation fee, both quoted in writing after the audit. The first term is 3 months, then it runs month to month. Seats are unlimited. What moves the price is on the pricing page.

How does it handle the deadline on a denial letter?
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It asks for the date on the letter and the appeal period the letter states, records both in the file and flags the inquiry for a lawyer. It does not interpret the deadline. A lawyer decides what it means and what to do.

What happens when an inquiry comes in after hours?
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It gets a reply. Every call, form, text and WhatsApp message is answered at any hour in wording you approve, and the intake questions are asked while the accident is fresh. Anything dated or unclear is flagged for a lawyer to read.

Does the automation decide who becomes a client?
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No. Intakes.io screens only on the rules you approve, and a lawyer decides whether to take every file. Nothing in the screening assesses the merits of a claim, and anything unclear goes to a person.

Who sends the contingency fee agreement?
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The lawyer does. Intakes.io tracks the agreement from sent to signed, routes the person's questions about it to your team, follows up on the missing signature and stops the reminders once it is signed.

Can we keep Clio or our current case management system?
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Yes. Intakes.io is the intake CRM and syncs to Clio, PracticePanther, Filevine and Smokeball, so the matter opens with the intake notes and documents attached. Nobody retypes the file, and your team keeps working in the system it knows.

Start here

Book a 30-minute audit on your numbers

Bring a recent month of inquiries. You see where this step stalls today.

What you leave with
Where your follow-up stalls, written down
Which open inquiries have no owner today
What Intakes.io would handle for you, and what would stay with your team