A personal injury attorney in Phoenix gets 50 intake calls per week. His intake process: paralegal takes the call, writes notes on a legal pad, emails the notes to the attorney, attorney reviews and calls back (if he remembers), paralegal manually types up the retainer agreement, mails it for signature, waits 3-5 days for return, then calls to schedule a meeting. By the time the retainer is signed, 40% of leads have already hired another attorney. Each lost case represents $5,000-50,000 in potential fees.
Law firm intake is where cases are won or lost. Studies show that 42% of potential clients hire the first attorney who responds. Yet most solo and small firms run intake on paper and email, creating 3-7 day delays before a retainer is signed. Meanwhile, large firms using Lawmatics ($149-249/mo) or Clio Grow ($49-79/mo) close leads in hours. The technology gap creates a competitive disadvantage for smaller practices.
Clio Grow ($49-79/mo) focuses on intake but requires the broader Clio ecosystem. Lawmatics ($149-249/mo) is powerful but expensive for solos. The opportunity is a focused intake-to-retainer tool at $39-79/mo: online intake forms that capture case details, automatic conflict checking, digital retainer with e-signature, payment processing for retainers, and automated follow-up until signed. Not practice management — just the critical intake funnel. Target PI, family law, and immigration attorneys where lead volume is high and speed-to-retainer directly impacts revenue. Every day of delay costs cases.
💰 Revenue Blueprint
Three-tier value ladder to monetize from day one
Online intake forms, e-signature retainers, basic follow-up automation, 30 intakes/mo
Unlimited intakes, conflict checking, payment processing, SMS reminders, custom branding
Multi-attorney, lead scoring, analytics, Clio/PracticePanther integration, priority support
📊 Market Evidence
The Market Gap
Lawmatics is expensive ($149+/mo). Clio Grow requires ecosystem buy-in. No focused $39-79/mo intake-to-retainer tool for solo attorneys where speed matters.
🏆 Competitor Landscape
How existing players stack up in this market
🛠️ Recommended Tech Stack
Suggested tools and technologies to build this idea
Score Breakdown
Good market signals with room for growth
Market (20%) + Revenue (20%) + Trend (15%) + Competition (15%) + Build (15%) + Pricing (15%)
🚀 Start Building
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Build a SaaS product called "Legal Intake-to-Retainer Flow". ## Product Overview Client intake, e-signature, and payment in one flow ## Problem Client intake, e-signature, and payment in one flow ## Solution Build Legal Intake-to-Retainer Flow ## Target Audience indie hackers, small businesses, and solopreneurs ## Tech Stack - Next.js 15 (App Router) with TypeScript - Tailwind CSS v4 for styling - Supabase for auth, database, and storage - Vercel for deployment - shadcn/ui for UI components - Framer Motion for animations ## MVP Features to Build 1. Landing page with clear value proposition 2. User authentication (sign up, sign in, forgot password) 3. Core product functionality based on the solution above 4. Dashboard for users to manage their data 5. Pricing page with at least 2 tiers (free + paid) 6. Basic settings/profile page ## Known Competitors Clio Grow, Lawmatics, Smokeball, LawRuler, Lexicata ## Key Risks to Address Standard market entry risks ## Deployment 1. Set up Supabase project and configure environment variables 2. Deploy to Vercel with `npx vercel --prod` 3. Set up custom domain 4. Configure Supabase RLS policies for security ## Instructions Start by creating the project structure, then build the landing page first. Use server components where possible. Make it mobile-responsive from the start. Focus on getting the core value loop working before adding polish.