An AI receptionist for law firms that says what it is
LEX Phone answers a law firm's calls with
An AI receptionist earns its place on a legal line by doing three things a voicemail box cannot: it answers every call at any hour, it asks the questions a firm needs answered before it can open a file, and it leaves a written record where the firm keeps its records. This page describes how
What a caller hears
Service: Thank you for calling [your firm]. This is the firm's customer service system, and this call is being transcribed so the lawyers have an accurate note. How can I help?
Caller: I've been served with papers about my lease and I need to talk to someone.
Service: I can take the details now so a lawyer can call you back. I can't give legal advice myself. Can I start with your full name and the best number to reach you on?
Caller: Are you a real person?
Service: No, I'm an automated service for the firm. I can take your details and book a time with a lawyer, or take a message if you would prefer. Who is the other party named on the papers?
The exchange above is an illustration of the pattern, and on your line the service uses your firm's name, practice areas and hours. It goes on to ask what the matter is about in the caller's words, whether any date is close, and what the caller would like to happen next, and it books a consult if the firm has allowed bookings.
The work it takes off the firm
Answers in the firm's name at every hour
By day when the lawyer is in a conference, at 7pm, and on a Saturday morning, at the same standard and with no surcharge for the hour.
Takes a legal intake
The caller's name and number, the other party's name for the conflict check, the kind of matter in the caller's words, any close date, what they want next and how they found the firm.
Books the consult
Into the lawyer's diary when bookings are allowed, and into the Smokeball calendar for firms connected to it. Otherwise it takes a call back time and creates the task.
Screens the callers
In Screen mode genuine callers are put through with a one-line summary, and cold callers and lead sellers stop at the front desk and never ring the lawyer's phone.
Writes the file note
A summary with the close date on the first line, and the transcript underneath, ready shortly after the caller hangs up.
Files it to the matter
A completed task on the Smokeball matter, or a Word document in SharePoint under the contact, with a new enquiry opened as a lead in Smokeball. Clio filing is in development.
Answers several calls at once
A busy minute does not queue. Each call is answered as it arrives, so the second and third callers are not sent to voicemail while the first is being helped.
Keeps the record in Australia
Calls are transcribed, not kept as audio. Summaries and messages are stored in Australian data centres under the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles, and the providers that transcribe and summarise calls may not train on them.
How it compares with other AI receptionists for law firms
Most AI receptionists sold to Australian law firms are priced by the minute or the call and send a summary. The difference that matters to a firm is usually the last column.
| Service | Published price | Practice management |
|---|---|---|
| LEX Phone | A$79.99 a lawyer a month, GST included, no per-call or per-minute fee, no setup fee | Files each call to the Smokeball matter or SharePoint; Clio in development |
| Trillet | $49 a month with 150 minutes, then $0.20 a minute | No native sync on the self-serve plan |
| Voxworks | From A$49 a month for 60 minutes, before GST | Names LEAP, Actionstep, Smokeball, Clio and FilePro, without stating the method |
| Hey Jodie | A$99, A$199 or A$399 a month before tax, unlimited minutes | Through Zapier on its top plan, or its API |
| Valory AI | From $149 a month for 100 minutes, setup from $990 | Intake sent to the lawyer for manual entry where there is no direct integration |
| AiDial | From $149 a month for 60 calls, setup scoped separately | None named |
| Frontly | From $199 a month on annual billing for 200 minutes, plus GST | Clio available; others need the software company's approval first |
| Smith.ai | From US$300 a month for 30 calls with receptionists | Smokeball, listed for the USA, and Clio |
As published by each provider on 3 October 2026. The full comparison, with sources, is in the best answering services and virtual receptionists for law firms.
What it will not do
A law firm needs to know the limits of anything that speaks in its name. These are fixed, and the full list is on the guardrails page.
Give legal advice or an opinion on a caller's position. Confirm to the other side, a court officer or anyone else whether the firm acts for a person. Discuss a matter with a caller who has not been verified. Use a human name or claim to be a member of staff. Send a text to a client without the lawyer reading and sending it.
Say it is automated when asked. Tell the caller at the start that the call is transcribed, and stop transcribing if they ask. Offer a message or a call back. Collect the other party's name so the firm can run its own conflict check. Ask the lawyer in the app when it cannot tell which matter a call belongs to, and never file to a guess.
How
The lawyer decides when it answers
An AI receptionist that sits in front of every call would get between a lawyer and their clients. This one is a mode on the lawyer's own line.
Available
Calls ring the lawyer directly with the matter on screen.
Screen
Unavailable
Included in the one price
AI receptionist questions firms ask
Yes. It is
Yes. In Screen mode
Never. It takes the enquiry and tells the caller plainly when a question is one for the lawyer. It does not confirm to the other side whether the firm acts for anyone, and it does not run the conflict check. It collects the names the firm needs to run its own.
What the firm tells it during setup: the practice areas you take on, your hours, whether it may book consults, and the topics it must not discuss. It answers from those and takes a message for anything outside them.
Only if the firm turns on verified matter conversations, and only after the caller proves they hold the mobile on the contact record with a one-time code. A verified client can hear where the matter is up to and the next date. Nothing about a matter is disclosed to an unverified caller.
A summary and a transcript are in the app shortly after the call ends, with a push notification. The file note is filed to the matter in Smokeball as a completed task, or to your SharePoint library as a Word document under the contact. Clio filing is in development.
No. The providers that transcribe and summarise calls are used under terms that do not allow training on the firm's calls, the voice provider deletes its copy of each call within a day, and we use only aggregated, de-identified figures to improve the service. The detail is on the data residency page.
It works from the practice areas you give it at setup and takes the intake for those, with a message for anything else. Family law and conveyancing lines have their own pages, because the first call in each needs particular care: what is never said to the other party, and why bank details are never taken.
The AI receptionist is
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Our demo law firm's line is answered by