Internal Intake Forms

Internal intake forms are the structured intake scripts your team runs through during a phone call, video consult, or in-person meeting. They're built in the same drag-and-drop form builder as your external forms, but optimized for the specific job of "fast, accurate data entry while you're talking to someone."

Think of an internal form as your firm's intake script, but enforced by software — every coordinator asks the same questions, in the same order, and the answers always end up in the right fields.

Why use one (vs. just typing into the lead detail)

The lead detail page lets your team edit any field at any time, which is great for follow-up updates. But during a first intake call, three things go wrong without a structured form:

• Missed questions — the coordinator forgets to ask about prior counsel or the date of incident.
• Inconsistent data — three coordinators code the same case type three different ways.
• Slow typing — bouncing between fields on a complicated lead detail page is friction the prospect can hear.

An internal intake form fixes all three. The script becomes the screen; the script-and-screen are one thing.

Where they live

Internal forms can be opened from two places:

• Inside a lead detail page — click Submit Intake Form to run a script against the existing lead. Useful when a prospect calls in and someone has already created the lead record.
• A private URL — every internal form has a URL only your team can access (login required). Open it on a fresh call and pick the lead at the end (or create a new one inline).

Either way, the form is connected to a lead — there's no such thing as a "floating" internal submission.

How a submission works

1. Coordinator clicks Submit Intake Form (or opens the form's URL).
2. Existing lead data pre-fills every field that already has a value — name, phone, email, anything previously captured. The coordinator doesn't re-type known info.
3. Coordinator works through the script field by field, with keyboard navigation between fields so they're not constantly reaching for the mouse.
4. Conditional logic hides irrelevant questions automatically — e.g. only asks about injury severity once Personal Injury is picked as the case type.
5. On submit, the lead is updated with all answered fields and the activity timeline records "Intake form completed by [coordinator name]" — useful for reporting and for the next teammate to know intake is done.

What's different from external forms

Internal forms share the same builder, but have a few features external forms don't:

• Pre-fill from lead — fields already populated on the lead show up filled in. The coordinator only types what's new.
• Keyboard-first navigation — Tab and Shift+Tab move between fields; Enter advances multi-step forms; Esc cancels.
• Internal field labels — different label for the prospect-facing version vs. what your team needs to see during the call (useful when the public-facing question is "What happened?" but the team prompt is "Probe for: incident date, injuries, prior counsel").
• Submission attribution — the form records who completed it, so reports can show per-coordinator intake volume and conversion.
• No public URL — internal forms only work for logged-in team members. They never accept anonymous submissions.

Building one

1. Open Forms → + New Form → choose Internal Intake.
2. Add the questions in the order your team should ask them.
3. For each field:
   • Public label — what the prospect would hear ("What happened?").
   • Internal label (optional) — what the coordinator should see as a prompt ("Probe for incident date and injuries").
   • Lead field mapping — where the answer goes on the lead record.
   • Required / conditional as appropriate.
4. Group related questions into steps if the form is long — turns one big page into a paced multi-step intake.
5. Publish.
6. From any lead, click Submit Intake Form and pick the form to start.

Common patterns

Case-type triage form — one short form everyone takes first. Routes the call to the right specialist coordinator based on which case type is picked.

Practice-area-specific intake — a longer form per practice area (PI, Workers' Comp, Mass Tort). The coordinator opens the right one once the case type is established.

Disqualification screener — a quick form whose only purpose is to find deal-breakers (statute of limitations expired, conflict of interest, geographic limit). Save it as the first thing your team runs to avoid wasting time on cases you can't take.

Versioning and drafts

Same as external forms: edits save as a draft, your team keeps using the published version until you publish the new one. No risk of mid-call surprises when you tweak a question.

What automations can do with the data

Internal intake submissions are first-class events:

• Trigger a status change — "When the PI Intake form is submitted, move the lead to Qualified."
• Trigger a referral routing rule — "When the form is submitted with case type = Workers' Comp, route to our WC partner."
• Generate a fee-sharing or retainer agreement based on the answers.
• Create a follow-up task for the next stage owner.

See Process Automation for how to chain these together.

Permissions

• Build / edit internal forms — owners and admins.
• Submit an internal form against a lead — any team member with access to that lead.
• See past submissions — anyone with access to the lead they were submitted on.

Next steps

• External / Public Forms — the same builder for prospect-facing forms on your website.
• Custom Fields — add lead fields that your intake forms can map answers into.
• Process Automation — wire form submissions into your end-to-end intake workflow.