Legal
Technology Worthy of Privileged Communication
Law firms trade on confidentiality and responsiveness. We source secure, reliable communications and infrastructure that protect confidential client communications, capture billable interactions, and never drop the call that matters, plus the intake operations and practical AI that turn more of those calls into retained matters.
Law firms need secure communications that support privilege and confidentiality expectations, consistent new-matter intake across every office, and security that satisfies client audits. ObsidianX sources secure UCaaS, CCaaS intake platforms, practical AI tools, redundant networks, and managed cybersecurity vendor-agnostically from 250+ suppliers, sized for firms from 10 to 100+ attorneys.
The problems we solve for legal
Privilege demands real security
Client files and communications are prime targets. A breach is not just an incident, it is a malpractice and reputation event.
Clients now audit their counsel
Corporate clients increasingly send security questionnaires before engaging firms: in ABA survey data nearly a third of firms have received one, closer to half at midsize and up. Weak answers cost work.
Missed calls are missed matters
In Clio's 2024 Legal Trends secret shopper study, only 40 percent of firms answered the phone. Intake calls that hit voicemail go to the next firm on the list.
Billable time leaks away
Communications that do not sync with practice management systems mean unbilled calls and reconstruction from memory.
Fragmented multi-office communications
Each office with its own phone system, carrier, and habits means an inconsistent client experience, mobile attorneys stitching tools together, and no single support path.
Intake nobody can see
Most firms cannot say how many inquiries called last month, how fast anyone answered, or how many became retained matters. What is not measured cannot be improved.
How ObsidianX delivers
Secure UCaaS for attorneys and staff
Encrypted cloud phone systems with mobile apps for attorneys on the move, voicemail transcription, and integrations with practice management platforms like Clio, so calls land in the matter file instead of memory.
Explore UCaaS & CCaaSIntake operations and CCaaS
New-matter calls routed by practice area and urgency, overflow and after-hours coverage that answers instead of voicemail, consistent intake across every office, and recording, retention, and quality visibility set to your firm's policy.
Explore CCaaSAI for intake and coordination
Virtual agents that triage new inquiries, book consults, summarize calls for staff, and cover after hours. AI handles routine coordination; attorneys and trained staff handle advice, judgment, and privileged work.
Explore AI & AutomationSecure multi-office connectivity
Redundant circuits and SD-WAN across offices, secure remote access for attorneys at home, in court, and on the road, and one support path for every location, engineered for deadlines that cannot afford an outage.
Explore Managed NetworksSecurity that answers client questionnaires
MDR/XDR detection and response, email protection against BEC and phishing, and a documented security posture that turns client questionnaires from a scramble into a checklist.
Explore CybersecurityAI in Legal Intake
AI that handles the routine, not the judgment
The operational cases are real and the ethics lines are clear: ABA Formal Opinion 512 permits generative AI with safeguards around competence, confidentiality, and supervision. Everything below is coordination, not counsel. AI never gives legal advice.
New-matter intake triage
Voice and chat agents greet every inquiry, capture contact and matter basics, screen for practice area and urgency, and route qualified prospects to the right person. The machine answers no legal questions.
Consult and appointment scheduling
Prospects book and reschedule consultations against real attorney availability instead of waiting for a callback. Confirmations and reminders go out automatically.
After-hours and overflow coverage
Inquiries do not stop at five. An AI agent answers when the desk is closed or the queue overflows, follows your protocols, and escalates urgent matters to on-call staff.
Call summarization for staff
Every intake conversation lands as a structured summary with follow-up items, so staff review instead of re-listening, and follow-ups do not slip.
Routine status and office-info deflection
Directions, hours, document drop-off, and appointment confirmations get answered automatically, with anything substantive routed to the team. Per Clio's research, legal AI use jumped from 19 to 79 percent in a year; the firms getting value scope it this narrowly.
Compliance
Confidentiality obligations, engineered in
ABA guidance and state bar opinions expect reasonable efforts to protect client information, and corporate clients often expect more. We select platforms with end-to-end encryption, granular access controls, and audit logging, then document those controls so your firm can answer security questionnaires. We also vet AI tools against the practical duties in ABA Formal Opinion 512: protect confidentiality, keep humans in supervision, and obtain informed consent before client information goes into a tool that learns from prompts or retains data.
Frequently Asked Questions
What legal leaders ask us most, answered directly.
What makes a phone system appropriate for law firm confidentiality and privilege expectations?
Encryption in transit and at rest, access controls, audit logging, and configurable retention are the baseline; ABA guidance expects reasonable efforts to secure client communications. Beyond security, firms do best with intake call routing, mobile apps, and practice management integration. ObsidianX runs multiple suppliers through a competitive process so the platform fits the practice, not the reverse.
How should law firms handle call recording, consent, and sensitive matters?
Consent rules vary: federal law and most states require one party's consent, but roughly a dozen states, including California, Florida, and Washington, require everyone's, so confirm requirements with your own counsel. Recording also raises confidentiality and privilege considerations. We shortlist platforms with configurable recording, retention, and access controls so the policy your counsel sets is actually enforceable.
How does structured intake help convert more inquiries into retained matters?
Most inquiries are lost before any lawyer hears about them. In Clio's 2024 Legal Trends secret shopper study, only 40 percent of firms answered the phone and a third responded to email. Structured intake fixes the mechanics: every call answered, routed by practice area, qualified consistently, booked to a consult, and tracked from inquiry to retained matter, so you can see where prospects fall out.
Can AI support legal intake without creating privilege or ethics problems?
Yes, with boundaries. ABA Formal Opinion 512 permits AI use with competence, confidentiality, and supervision safeguards. In practice that means the AI is disclosed, gathers contact and scheduling information without giving legal advice, runs on platforms that do not train on your data without informed consent, and escalates anything substantive to trained staff. We vet tools against those lines.
What do multi-office law firms need from connectivity and communications?
One consistent system instead of one per office: uniform call routing and intake handling, centralized administration, redundant circuits with failover at each location, secure remote access from home or court, and a single support path. Consolidation also cleans up the bills; firms typically recover 15 to 30 percent of telecom spend at renewal.
What do UCaaS and CCaaS realistically cost for a law firm?
Real-world negotiated mid-market UCaaS deals typically land at $15 to $27 per seat per month depending on volume, term, and licensing, often with desk phones included. CCaaS for intake and client contact runs higher, typically $50 to $150 and up per agent per month depending on features and AI capabilities, so we scope agent seats to the intake desk that needs them and bid both across 250+ suppliers.
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