For estate planning and family law firms with 1 to 10 attorneys and no full-time intake staff
Every new inquiry acknowledged within five minutes, even while you're in court.
Minute Five builds and manages inquiry follow-up for small estate planning and family law firms. Missed callers receive a prompt reply, consultations can be scheduled, and your team stays in control of matters that need personal attention.
The five-minute standard covers calls to your connected phone line and forms and chat on your website. Carrier delivery and outages at outside services can delay a message.
- Call missedAttorney in a hearing. Caller hangs up without leaving a voicemail.
- Approved text sent to callerHi, this is Harlow Estate Law. Sorry we missed your call. How can we help? You can also pick a consult time here.
- Caller repliesMy mom needs a will and power of attorney. Can someone talk to us this week?
- Prospect picks a consult timeThursday, 10:00 AM. Confirmation and intake questions sent. Staff notified.
- Reminder sentDay-before reminder with the office address and what to bring.
Too many prospective-client inquiries go unanswered.
People looking for a lawyer often contact more than one firm. A slow reply gives the next firm the first conversation.
of law firms answered a prospective client's first phone call live.
replied to a prospective client's email.
Source: Clio Legal Trends Report, 2024 secret-shopper study. Industry-wide figures, not a measure of any single firm.
Software, an answering service, or a managed follow-up process
Already using practice-management software? You may not need to replace it. Minute Five focuses on the follow-up work around new inquiries: configuring approved responses, monitoring the process, and showing your team what needs attention. We assess any integration with your existing tools separately.
| Who does the work | Practice-management or intake software | Answering or receptionist service | Minute Five |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setting it up | Varies; may be self-managed or supported by provider/consultant | The service, for call handling | Built for you around your firm's approved rules |
| Ongoing upkeep | Varies; may be self-managed or supported by provider/consultant | The service, for the calls it takes | Monitored and adjusted by Minute Five as part of the monthly fee |
| Live phone answering | Varies by product | Yes | No. Automated replies plus your staff |
| Follow-up after first contact | Available in many products, once configured | Varies by plan | Reminders, no-show, and post-consult follow-up included |
| Reporting | Dashboards you review | Call logs and summaries | A recurring report on your agreed metrics, reviewed with you |
| Accounts, access, and exports | Per vendor terms | Per provider terms | Defined in the service agreement |
Capabilities and support vary by vendor, plan and implementation. Minute Five is an independent service; software integrations are scoped and confirmed case by case.
How Minute Five works
Setup timing depends on your firm's channels, approvals and any existing-system integrations. We'll agree on the scope and timeline before work begins.
Review your existing intake
We map inquiry channels, existing software and staff handoffs, and where follow-up is delayed. We identify whether a connection to an existing practice-management system would help or add unnecessary complexity.
Build your approved workflow
We configure agreed acknowledgment, scheduling, reminders, and follow-up in the selected workflow system. Your firm approves client-facing messages and exception rules. Any third-party integration is separately authorized, scoped and tested.
Test before going live
We review the connected channels and test routine inquiries, missing information, failed messages, and situations requiring staff attention.
Monitor and improve
Once active, we review the workflow, report on the agreed metrics, and make approved adjustments.
Your team remains responsible for legal questions, conflict checks, and decisions about representation. Minute Five manages the agreed follow-up process.
Example: one inquiry's path
A typical estate planning workflow. The timing and wording are set with your firm.
- Minute 0
Inquiry arrives
A call, web form, or chat message comes in, day or night.
- Under 5 min
Acknowledged
Missed callers get a text back. Forms get an instant reply with the next step.
- When they're ready
Booking offered
The prospect chooses an available time on your calendar and gets your intake questions.
- Before the consult
Reminders
Text and email reminders. No-shows get a link to reschedule.
- After the consult
Follow-up
People who consulted but didn't sign get a short, approved follow-up sequence.
Your firm decides which inquiries skip automated follow-up and go straight to staff, such as urgent matters, existing clients, or anything sensitive. The system collects basic contact details. It does not screen for conflicts or decide whether you take a case.
What's included
Respond promptly when your office is busy
When your team can't answer, new callers and website inquiries can receive an approved acknowledgment and a clear next step.
- Missed-call text-back, only to people who called you
- Instant replies to web forms and chat
Keep the next step from getting lost
Consultation scheduling, reminders, and follow-up run through a consistent process approved by your firm.
- Booking synced to your calendar
- Reminders and no-show follow-up
- Follow-up for consults who didn't sign
Spend less time managing the follow-up system
Minute Five handles the agreed setup, monitoring, reporting, and maintenance. Your team keeps responsibility for client communications that need personal attention.
Works around the tools your firm already uses
You may not need to change your practice-management software. During setup we review the tools you use and decide what information, if any, should move between systems. Connections to specific products, including Clio, are available only where technically supported, authorized by your firm, and included in your agreed scope.
Third-party subscriptions and usage charges may be separate.
- Time to acknowledgment
- How fast each inquiry got its first reply, by channel.
- Inquiries that booked a consult
- Out of all new inquiries in the month.
- Consults that showed up
- And how many no-shows rescheduled.
- Retained clients
- As reported by your firm.
- Items needing attention
- Inquiries flagged for staff and any messages that didn't deliver.
A clear process. Defined responsibilities. Your firm stays in control.
Minute Five supports your intake operations without replacing your attorneys' professional judgment.
- Communications your firm approves
- Your team reviews the messaging and follow-up rules before activation.
- No automated legal advice
- The configured workflow handles operational communications. Legal questions and representation decisions remain with your firm.
- Human attention when appropriate
- Your firm determines which types of inquiries require personal attention, including urgent, sensitive, or existing-client matters.
- Clear system ownership and permissions
- The service agreement identifies the accounts involved, who controls access and exports, and how information is handled when service ends. If your firm chooses a connection to another software provider, we document authorization, data fields and responsibilities before activating it.
- A process you can review
- Your firm receives a record of agreed workflow activity and a recurring report on the metrics relevant to its intake process.
- Replies only to people who contacted you
- No cold texts or calls to consumers on your behalf. Texts carry opt-out language and avoid case details, since messages can show on lock screens and shared phones.
Founding-firm pilot
Minute Five is taking on a small number of estate planning and family law firms as founding clients. Founding firms get:
- A reduced rate for the first three months
- A documented setup plan, including supported channels and any agreed integrations
- A direct line to the person who builds and runs it
In return, I ask for honest feedback and permission to share anonymized results. Pricing is a one-time setup fee plus a flat monthly fee, never a fee per client retained or per case. Standard texting and phone usage is included. There's a three-month minimum, then month to month. Any third-party software subscriptions and integration requirements will be identified before you commit. You'll get exact amounts in writing before you commit.
Who runs it
Minute Five is run by Ronald Gantz. He has spent more than ten years serving business clients in a regulated, deadline-driven industry, where documentation, consent, and follow-through are the job.
He builds and runs every system personally, and reports results in numbers.
A good fit if your firm
- Is led by an owner or managing attorney who decides on intake tools
- Gets new inquiries every week by phone, web form, or directory
- Has attorneys or a small staff handling intake between other work
- Wants follow-up handled without buying and managing more software
Questions firms ask
Anything else, ask on the call or email [email protected].
We already use Clio or another practice-management tool. Do we need to change it?
Not necessarily. Minute Five is designed to manage inquiry follow-up without replacing your legal practice-management system. We first review your current tools and workflow. Any Clio or other third-party connection is optional and depends on supported capabilities, your authorization, and the agreed implementation scope.
Is Clio included in Minute Five?
No. Minute Five is an independent managed service, not a resale of Clio. If your firm uses Clio, its subscription remains separate unless a different arrangement is expressly documented and authorized.
We already pay for intake software like Clio Grow or Lawmatics. Why add Minute Five?
You may not need to. The intake review looks at whether your current tools are set up and actually used. If they can do the job, I'll tell you so.
Is this an answering service?
No. Nobody answers your phone live. The system replies to missed calls and web inquiries in writing, offers booking, and flags inquiries that need your staff.
Does it screen for conflicts or decide who we take?
No. It collects basic contact details and your intake questions. Conflict checks and decisions about representation stay with your firm.
How are sensitive family law inquiries handled?
Messages stay neutral and never mention the matter. Your firm can route certain inquiries, such as anything urgent or involving safety, straight to staff instead of automated follow-up.
Will prospects know the first reply is automated?
The first reply is written in your firm's voice and says your team will follow up. It never pretends to be an attorney or gives legal advice.
What does my team have to do?
At the start, review and approve the messages and rules, and connect your calendar. After that, your team takes the booked consults, handles flagged inquiries, and tells the system who was retained.
Who controls our information?
Your agreement specifies what information is collected, which systems receive it, who has access and how records are exported or removed when service ends. We minimize the details used in automated communications and agree on any third-party data sharing before activation.
What will an integration cost?
We review any required integrations before quoting implementation. Third-party subscriptions may be separate. You receive the full scope and pricing before approving a pilot.
What's the commitment?
Three months to give the system a fair test, then month to month with 30 days' notice.
Who pays for texting and phone usage?
Standard texting and phone usage for the follow-up system is included in the flat monthly fee. Your written quote states what's included.
Book a 15-minute intake review
We'll walk through how inquiries reach your firm today and where they get stuck. You'll leave knowing whether a managed follow-up process makes sense for you, whether or not you hire Minute Five.
Prefer email? Write to [email protected] and you'll get a reply within one business day.