# Voice AI for law firms: how to choose a service

> [llms.txt](https://www.lighthouselegal.ai/llms.txt)

Compare legal AI answering services by who takes the call, what staff receive, human backup and total cost. Follow one personal injury intake example.

URL: https://www.lighthouselegal.ai/blog/voice-ai-for-law-firms

[Blog](https://www.lighthouselegal.ai/blog)

October 20, 2026

## Voice AI for law firms: how to choose a service

Start with who answers and who takes over. Then check the call notes and the full monthly cost.

-   Voice AI
-   Choosing a service
-   Personal injury intake

Start by deciding **who should answer your calls and who should take over when a caller needs a person**. Then check what each service asks, where its call notes go and what you will pay.

Voice AI is software that speaks with callers over the phone. For a law firm, it may answer after hours, ask about a new case, take a message or connect a caller to staff. Those are different jobs. A good voice demo does not tell you which jobs the service will do.

### Choose who answers

If your staff answer during the day, you may only need help with missed calls. If you want help with every call, you may need a broader service. Decide that first.

| Type of service | What you are buying | When it fits |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI answering with transfers to your firm | The AI talks to the caller. When a person is needed, it calls someone at your firm. | Your staff can take transfers and return calls. |
| AI with the service's reception team | The AI answers first. The service's people can take over in some cases. | You want help from people outside your firm. |
| A phone system with AI answering | AI answering as part of an office phone system. | You also need a system for office calls. |

You can also choose a service where a person answers first. Include one if that is what your firm wants.

**A transfer to your attorney is different from help supplied by the answering service.** Check who will pick up and what happens if no one answers.

### Compare four services

Here are four services to consider. They do different jobs, so this is not a best-to-worst list.

| Service | What it offers | Check before choosing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lighthouse | PI intake with your questions and transfers to your staff. Our team helps you set it up. | Who at your firm will take transfers and return calls. Lighthouse provides the AI, not an outside team of receptionists. |
| Smith.ai | AI answering with access to its Live Agent Network. It also has services that use both AI and people, or people first. | Which people take over, when they do so and what that help costs. |
| Clerx | Legal intake by phone and other channels, with custom questions and transfers to staff. | Which channels and tasks the price covers, and where your staff get the call details. |
| CloudTalk | AI voice agents and an office phone system. | Whether you also need the phone system, what AI use costs and how call notes reach your case software. |

If you want an outside person to help upset callers, include services with receptionists. If you like your current staff and phone system, ask how the new service can work with them.

For a closer look at two choices, see our [Smith.ai comparison](https://www.lighthouselegal.ai/learn/lighthouse-vs-smith-ai) and [Clerx comparison](https://www.lighthouselegal.ai/learn/lighthouse-vs-clerx).

### Follow one injury call

Consider **Big Apple Personal Injury**, a fictional firm, and **Maya**, a caller. The firm's staff answer during the day. In the evening, it wants callers with serious injuries sent to Avery, its on-call attorney.

Maya says:

> "I was rear-ended yesterday. My wrist is broken. I went to urgent care - sorry, it was the emergency room. I don't have the bill yet. Can I speak to someone?"

For this example, the firm needs the incident date, location, injury, treatment and callback number. A medical bill is optional.

Maya has asked for a person. Check that the service tries the right contact without making her finish a form first. It should save what she has already said, including her correction about treatment. An unknown bill amount should remain unknown. It should not become "no treatment," and the caller should not have to invent an answer to move on.

Example - What staff need next

Injury

Maya reports a broken wrist

Treatment

Emergency room; caller corrected an earlier answer

Medical bill

Not available; optional for this firm's intake

Transfer

Try Avery; note whether he takes the call

Case decision

Still belongs to the firm

Example call notes, not a screenshot or a result from a test.

Use this call to check whether the service follows your firm's instructions.

### Check the call transfer

Ask each service to show what happens when Maya asks for a person. First have Avery answer. Then repeat the call while Avery does not pick up.

When Avery answers, check what he hears. Does the service tell him who is calling and why, or does it connect Maya right away? A transfer with an introduction is often called a **warm transfer**. Ask which kind you will get.

When Avery does not answer, listen to what Maya is told. Then check the call notes. Can staff see that he did not take the call? Choose a person at your firm to review those calls and call people back.

Lighthouse calls the people your firm chooses. Smith.ai can also use its own receptionists, depending on the plan and reason for the transfer. Your firm still makes the legal decisions.

Our [human-handoff example](https://www.lighthouselegal.ai/learn/ai-receptionist-human-backup) follows both paths in more detail.

### Read the call notes

After the call, open what your staff would get. Start with the details the AI saved and the short summary. Can the person making the callback quickly find the injury, treatment, phone number and transfer result?

Then look at Maya's treatment correction. If those notes are wrong or unclear, open the **transcript**, the written copy of the call, and find her exact words. That can help when a caller first names the wrong hospital, is unsure of a date or says something a short summary leaves out.

 [![Lighthouse dashboard example with captured caller, accident and treatment details.](https://www.lighthouselegal.ai/images/blog/lighthouse-dashboard/usage-details.webp)](https://www.lighthouselegal.ai/images/blog/lighthouse-dashboard/usage-details.webp)

A separate call from our approved dashboard demonstration. Check the details and summary first; use the transcript for a deeper review.

Next, check what reaches your firm's software. If a service says it "integrates" with your case system, ask what it saves there. Does it add a contact, a note, intake fields or something else?

For example, once set up, a [Lighthouse Clio connection](https://www.lighthouselegal.ai/learn/lighthouse-call-notes-in-clio) saves a contact and call note. The full Lighthouse call record remains in Lighthouse. Check each part instead of assuming the whole call record moves across.

### Compare the full cost

Give each service the same call counts and list of tasks. For Big Apple, suppose that is **80 calls a month averaging four minutes**, with a busy month of **160 calls**. These are example inputs, not a typical PI firm's workload.

For a service that charges by the call, use 80 and 160 calls. For one that charges by the minute, use 320 and 640 minutes. A phone system may also charge for staff accounts, phone numbers or AI use.

Ask for both monthly totals. Include your intake questions, transfers, help from people and links to your case software.

Here is how the services describe their prices:

-   **Lighthouse:** a flat monthly rate based on call volume, with no per-minute charge. [Request a quote](https://www.lighthouselegal.ai/#book-demo) for the calls and hours you need covered.
-   **Smith.ai:** its [AI pricing page](https://smith.ai/pricing/ai-receptionist) lists a Pro option at $150 for 75 calls, with extra calls priced separately as checked October 20, 2026. Its human-first plans are a separate comparison.
-   **Clerx:** [quotes depend on the tasks, call volume and languages your firm needs](https://www.clerx.com/law-firm-answering-service-cost).
-   **CloudTalk:** [phone-system plans and voice-agent usage](https://www.cloudtalk.io/pricing/) need to be checked together for the setup you want.

Compare the bills first. Call counts alone do not tell you how many new cases you will sign.

### Start with a few calls

Once the practice calls go well, try the service during the hours where you need help. Keep the rest of your process the same so you can see what changes.

Have the staff who will use the notes review the first calls. Write down each problem: a wrong detail, a failed transfer or an unclear next step. After a fix, repeat the practice call that showed the problem.

Our [Lighthouse trial guide](https://www.lighthouselegal.ai/blog/how-to-test-ai-answering-with-lighthouse) explains how to start with direct practice calls and then selected evenings, while keeping the firm's existing number.

Choose the service that asks the right questions, transfers calls as agreed and gives staff clear notes at a price you understand. To try Lighthouse, [bring your intake questions to a demo](https://www.lighthouselegal.ai/#book-demo). Use the same example with the other services you consider.

[Book a demo](https://www.lighthouselegal.ai/#book-demo) [See how it works](https://www.lighthouselegal.ai/#how-it-works)