The Best AI Receptionist For UK Solicitors

Stuart By Stuart Founder, ClearCall UPDATED OCTOBER 2026
UK law firms

Stop losing instructions. Stop chasing paperwork.

ClearCall is a done-for-you AI front desk and admin assistant for UK law firms. It answers every call and enquiry, gets intake and ID paperwork in before the first appointment, keeps clients and agents updated, and chases what is overdue. You approve every rule. It never gives legal advice.

  • You approve every rule
  • Human fallback on every route
  • Test calls before anything goes live
  • Fixed price in writing first
Sound familiar?

The work is not the problem. The gaps around it are.

  • You are with a client, at court or on a completion. The phone rings out. The caller rings the next firm.
  • The ID and documents you needed before the first appointment have not arrived.
  • Clients, agents, lenders and the other side all ring for the same update. Your team spends the day answering "any news?"
  • Work is done, bills go out late and nobody chases the ones that are overdue.
The numbers

What the regulators and researchers say

Every figure is third-party, with the source below. They describe the market, not ClearCall results.

46%

of complaint types brought to the Legal Ombudsman in 2025/26 were about poor communication or delay.

RegulatorLegal Ombudsman, 2025/26
25%

of people who complained to the Legal Ombudsman said their provider never gave them a final response.

RegulatorLegal Ombudsman, 2025/26
43%

of their time is what residential conveyancers said they spend chasing other parties or being chased.

SurveyLandmark Information Group, 100 conveyancers
29%

of files the SRA reviewed had no source of funds check (11%) or an inadequate one (18%). Early evidence requests are the fix.

RegulatorSRA thematic review, 5 Nov 2025, 5,873 files
What we can do for you

Six jobs it takes off your team, beyond the phone

Most firms stop at "answer the phone". The hours go in what happens around it.

1. Never lose an enquiry

Callers do not leave voicemails. They ring the next firm.

  • Answers day and night, says it is automated, takes the details you approve
  • Sorts every caller by urgency and type, and books the consultation
  • Instant reply to web and email enquiries, same triage
  • Reminders and re-booking to cut no-shows

2. Instructions arrive complete

The appointment happens. The paperwork has not.

  • Intake questions and all party names collected for your conflict check
  • Sends your ID and source-of-funds request through the tool you already use, and chases until it is done
  • Nudges on client care pack, e-signature and payment on account

Your team verifies ID and makes every AML decision.

3. Clients stop chasing

"Any update?" is the call nobody wants to take.

  • Takes the message with the matter reference and says when to expect a reply
  • One daily digest grouped by matter: "four calls on this file"
  • Milestone updates in your wording, from your case system where it can be connected
  • Chases missing documents on your schedule

4. Get paid sooner

Unbilled work and slow payers lock up cash.

  • Every call becomes a draft file note and draft time entry for the fee earner to approve
  • Weekly "work done, not billed" list for partners, from your billing export
  • Polite payment reminders in wording you approve, never touching client money

Kreston Reeves' worked example: a firm with £3m in fees that cuts lock-up by 25 days frees over £200,000.

5. Win the work you have already earned

Past clients and introducers are your cheapest source of instructions.

  • Asks every client for feedback on completion
  • Will and LPA review reminders to your own past clients, with an opt-out in every message
  • Thanks and a short status digest for estate agents and brokers who refer to you, where the client has agreed
  • One follow-up to enquiries that did not book

National Wills Report 2025: 37% of UK adults have a will, and 29% of those with one have not told anyone where it is.

6. A safer office

The risks that sit in the cracks.

  • Complaint calls logged, time-stamped and sent to your complaints handler, with an 8-week clock reminder
  • A second check on changed bank details: flagged, and held until someone phones a number already on file
  • A data pack for your COLP: what is captured, sub-processors, retention

The demo line shows the starting point: it answers, asks about your business and emails you a summary. Everything above is built around your business after your free report, and we tell you in writing what can and cannot be connected to your systems before you commit.

Do the maths

What could unanswered enquiries be costing you?

These starting numbers are examples, not benchmarks. Use yours.

ESTIMATED ANNUAL FEES AT RISK
£21,600
a year, before counting staff time on chasers and admin.

Missed enquiries × share you would instruct × average fee × 48 working weeks. Check it against your own records.

Try it now

Ring our agent. Get an instant understanding by email.

Ring the number and talk to it like a caller. It asks about your firm, works out where enquiries and admin are leaking, and emails you straight after with what it found and how we can help. You also hear exactly how it sounds and how it copes with interruptions. Talk about your firm in general terms. Please do not give real client details.

How it works

Done for you, and low-risk to try

Assessment

Short form, a call with you, and a written Call-Flow and Enquiry Assessment. Free.

You set the rules

Partners approve triage lanes, questions, recording notice and retention.

Build and test

We build it. You listen to test calls before any real caller reaches it.

Go live

Human fallback on every route. We review the first weeks with you.

Little effort from youWe write it, build it, connect it and maintain it. Your time is the assessment call and signing off the rules.
Nothing live until you approveScope, data information and price are agreed in writing first. You hear test calls before a real caller does.
A straight answerIf the assessment shows it will not earn its keep, we say so and do not build it.
No made-up resultsWe quote no success rates because we do not have yours yet. We measure them with you after go-live.
Triage

Every call gets a lane before it gets an answer

Red

Phone call and text to a named person at once.

  • Arrest or police station
  • Risk to safety (told to ring 999 if in danger)
  • Hearing, deadline, exchange or completion inside your window
  • Distressed or vulnerable caller

Amber

Same-day call-back from the right person.

  • Existing client with a problem
  • Other side, agent or lender on a live deal
  • Priority practice-area enquiry

Green

Handled and logged.

  • New enquiry: details taken, consultation booked
  • Costs question: points to your published prices
  • Change of contact details

Not for the AI, ever

  • Legal advice, views on merits or outcomes
  • Clearing a conflict, or saying the firm will act
  • Anything touching client money
  • Complaints (flagged to your complaints handler), regulators, police, press and insurers
Built for regulated firms

You stay in control. Your COLP gets the paperwork.

  • You approve every rule: questions, triage lanes, wording and retention period.
  • Callers are told it is automated and can ask for a person at any point.
  • A data pack for your COLP before you sign: what is captured, who processes it, where, and for how long, plus a data processing agreement.
  • No legal advice, no client money, no conflict decisions. Those stay with your people.

Designed with the SRA's August 2026 warning notice on AI in mind. ClearCall is not a law firm, so your COLP makes the final call.

Got questions?

FAQs for law firms

Does it give legal advice?

No. It does not give legal advice, comment on the merits of a matter, predict an outcome, say whether the firm will act, or clear a conflict. It takes details, answers from information your firm has approved, books the next step and passes everything to a person.

Will callers know it is an AI?

Yes. We build it to open by saying it is an automated assistant for your firm and that the call may be recorded, in wording you approve, with a route to a person for anyone who asks.

Is this allowed under SRA rules?

The SRA has not banned AI. Its warning notice of 17 August 2026 says firms stay accountable for work done with AI and must protect client confidentiality. Using an AI assistant is your firm's decision and your COLP should sign it off. We give you what they need: what is captured, where it is processed, who the sub-processors are and how long it is kept. We are not a law firm and cannot tell you that your firm is compliant.

Where does the call data go?

We tell you in writing before you sign. Recordings, transcripts and summaries are personal data and may be confidential. Before any live call you get a list of what is captured, which sub-processors handle it and where, how long it is kept, and a data processing agreement. You choose the retention period.

Can it run conflict checks or ID and AML checks?

No. It collects the names a conflict check needs and sends your ID and source-of-funds requests through the tool your firm already uses, then chases until they are done. Your firm runs the checks and makes every decision.

What happens with an urgent or distressed caller?

You set the rules for each practice area. Typical examples are someone at a police station, a risk to safety, a hearing or deadline inside a window you set, or an exchange or completion due today. Those calls go to a named person by phone and text straight away, then to the next person on your list. If a caller is in immediate danger it tells them to ring 999. Anything it is unsure about goes to a person.

Does it work with our case management and billing systems?

That depends on the system and on what it lets us connect to. In the assessment we check what you use. If something can be connected we scope it. If not, summaries, draft file notes and lists go to your email and calendar and your team files them. We tell you which applies before you commit.

Does it replace our receptionist?

No. It covers the gaps: out of hours, lunch, peaks, holiday weeks and overflow, and it takes the repeat chasing off your team. Your people still handle visitors, complex calls and anything that needs judgement.

What does it cost?

The assessment is free. A build is priced on your call volume, practice areas and what we connect to. You get one fixed price in writing after the assessment and before anything is built. If the numbers do not support it, we say so.

I am a sole practitioner or small firm. Is this for me?

It can be. When you are in a meeting, at court or on a completion, nobody else answers. If your volume is too low to make sense, the assessment will show that and we will tell you.

Can I hear it before I decide?

Yes. Ring 0330 533 0665. It asks about your firm, works out where enquiries and admin are leaking, then emails you what it found and how we can help. You also hear exactly how it sounds. Talk about your firm in general terms and please never give real client information to any AI tool you are testing.

Who is behind this

Founder-led, so you deal with me

I build AI voice agents and automations for UK small businesses. I am not a solicitor and nothing here is legal advice.

This page is built from the SRA's AI notice, the Legal Ombudsman's data and the research listed below. If anything is wrong or out of date, tell me and I will fix it.

Sources

  1. Regulator2025/26 annual complaints data and insight, Legal Ombudsman.
  2. RegulatorThematic review of source of funds and wealth compliance, SRA, 5 November 2025.
  3. RegulatorMisuse of AI: warning notice, SRA, 17 August 2026.
  4. SurveyConveyancers spend nearly half their time chasing people, Legal Futures, reporting Landmark Information Group (100 conveyancers).
  5. SurveyWills and ways, Law Society community, reporting the National Wills Report 2025.
  6. Lock-up management in legal firms, Kreston Reeves (accountants), worked examples.

ClearCall is not a law firm and is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Nothing on this page is legal advice or a statement that any firm is compliant with its regulatory obligations. Statistics are quoted from the sources above and are not ClearCall results. Check the sources for current figures.

Every unanswered enquiry is an instruction for another firm.

Get a written assessment of where yours leak and what the admin around them is costing. Free, with the working shown.