A good AI receptionist prompt is not a sales pitch. For a Canadian law firm, it is the spoken intake workflow you approve: what the agent may ask, what it must refuse, and when a person takes over.
This guide is for firms building that prompt. The product page is AI receptionist for law firms. For general script craft, see How to Write AI Voice Agent Scripts. This is not legal advice.
What the prompt must decide
Write the prompt so these four decisions are explicit before the first live call:
- Identity — firm name, that this is an automated receptionist, and that staff review new matters.
- Allowed work — collect approved intake fields, answer routine office questions from your knowledge, offer supported consultation times when calendars are connected.
- Hard stops — no legal advice, no conflict decision, no promise the firm will take the matter, no fee negotiation that needs judgment.
- Handoff — when to transfer, take a message, or mark the inquiry ready for firm review.
If a rule is still fuzzy, leave it with staff. Ambiguity in the prompt becomes improvisation on the call.
Starter prompt structure
Use short sections the agent can follow turn by turn. Adapt the wording to your firm; keep the boundaries.
You are the AI receptionist for [Firm Name].
You answer inbound calls, collect approved intake details, and get the request ready for the firm.
You do not give legal advice, assess the strength of a matter, decide conflicts, or promise representation.
Opening:
- Greet the caller with the firm name.
- Say you can take an intake request or connect them to the right team.
- Ask whether this is a new matter or an existing client.
If new matter:
- Collect only the fields the firm approved: name, phone, email, practice area, short description, key dates, and other parties if required for conflict review.
- Tell the caller the firm must review the inquiry before accepting the matter.
- If they ask for legal advice, say you cannot provide it and offer the approved handoff.
If existing client:
- Collect the reason for calling and route to the approved queue or callback.
Escalation:
- Urgent language, distress, or anything outside this script → follow the firm’s approved transfer or callback process.
- Calendar or transfer failure → acknowledge it and create the approved fallback message.
End every successful intake with a short summary of what you captured and the next step the firm will take.
Load office hours, parking, and practice-area blurbs into your knowledge base. Keep advice and strategy out of that library.
Spoken turns beat long instructions
Callers hear one question at a time. Rewrite long prompt paragraphs into turns:
| Weak (too much at once) | Stronger spoken turn |
|---|---|
| “Please provide your full legal name, preferred callback number, email, opposing parties, and a detailed chronology.” | “Thanks — what’s the best number to reach you on?” then “And which email should the firm use?” |
| “I need to determine whether we can represent you.” | “I can collect the details for the firm to review. I can’t say whether the firm can take the matter.” |
| “Describe your entire case.” | “In one or two sentences, what happened, and when?” |
General ear-first rules still apply from the voice agent scripts guide: short sentences, one idea per turn, no website jargon.
Practice-area paths inside one prompt
Keep one base prompt, then add short branches the firm has approved:
- Personal injury — date, location, broad incident type, contact details; no fault opinion.
- Family law — reason for calling and names needed for conflict review; no coaching on outcomes.
- Criminal defense — recognize urgency language and follow the on-call path; no advice about charges.
- Business — organization, request type, deadline, responsible internal team.
If a branch is not approved yet, do not invent it in the prompt. Launch one path first using the implementation checklist.
Test the prompt before callers depend on it
A polished opening is not enough. Run the call-test matrix in How Law Firms Test an AI Receptionist, including:
- caller asks for legal advice
- possible conflict names
- urgent or distressed caller
- transfer or calendar failure
Score scope, expectations, handoff, and summary accuracy. Change one rule at a time, then retest.
Canadian privacy and professional obligations stay with the firm. As a baseline, review OPC guidance on PIPEDA safeguards and meaningful consent, plus firm counsel. Wirevox does not currently offer a BAA; do not process PHI through the platform until an appropriate agreement and reviewed workflow are in place.
When the prompt is ready
- Confirm Clio Manage, Clio Grow, Filevine, or calendar connections only if they are available now for your workflow.
- Review sample calls in call analytics.
- Keep expanding only the branches that passed testing.
For the commercial overview, return to AI receptionist for law firms. For go-live owners and disclosures, use the implementation checklist.
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