New client intake at most Ghanaian law firms runs through email and phone: a potential client describes their matter, someone manually checks for conflicts of interest, an engagement letter gets drafted from a template, and documents trickle in as attachments across a dozen emails.
A custom intake system standardizes the front door: a structured form captures the matter type and parties involved, runs an automatic conflict check against the firm's existing client database, and only routes to a partner for manual review once that check clears.
Document collection improves the same way, instead of chasing attachments over email, clients get a secure upload link tied to their matter, with automatic reminders for anything still outstanding, and everything lands in the matter file without a paralegal manually saving each attachment.
The trust bar here is higher than most industries, given client confidentiality obligations, which means the system needs proper access controls and an audit trail from day one, not bolted on after the fact.