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.