Custom Legal CRM & Client Intake for Law Firms

What the legal CRM does

Captures every enquiry from website forms, calls, e-mail, WhatsApp, directories and referrals into one record, with its source.
Runs intake by practice area: immigration, family, employment, property, personal injury, each with its own questions and document requests.
Assigns an owner and a next step, so nothing sits in a personal inbox.
Books consultations against real diary availability, with confirmations and reminders.
Follows up automatically with prospects who have not booked or sent documents.
Hands over to case management when the matter opens.
Reports enquiries, consultations and new clients by source, so you know which marketing pays.

An enquiry, handled end to end

Enquiry arrivesForm, call, e-mail, WhatsApp or referral
CRM record and acknowledgementWithin minutes, with the source recorded
Practice-area intakeThe right questions and document requests
Consultation bookedFrom real availability, with reminders
Follow-up until a decisionAutomated nudges and tasks
Matter openedHand-off to your case management system

Custom build or off-the-shelf legal CRM?

Off-the-shelf legal CRMs, such as those from case management vendors, are often the right answer. We will tell you when that is the case.

	Off-the-shelf legal CRM	Custom legal CRM (DataVolve)
Time to start	Days	First workflow in 2–4 weeks
Cost model	Per-user monthly subscription	One-off build plus hosting
Intake flows	Configurable within the vendor’s model	Built around each of your practice areas
Integrations	Best with the vendor’s own products	Connected to the systems you already use
Ownership	Vendor’s platform	Your code, your cloud account, your data
Best for	Standard intake, firms already on that vendor	Multi-practice firms, unusual workflows, growing teams

Typical pricing

Scope	Typical cost	Time to live
One practice area: intake, follow-up and booking	£4,000–£12,000	2–4 weeks
Full legal CRM: several practice areas, reporting, integrations	£8,000–£24,000	6–12 weeks, phased
Hosting (UK region)	£15–£250 / month	Ongoing

Typical ranges, excluding VAT where applicable. Your price is fixed in writing after a scoping call.

Confidentiality and SRA duties

UK hosting, role-based access and an audit log of who viewed what.
Automated follow-up only to people who contacted the firm, never unsolicited approaches (SRA Code, paragraph 8.9).
Service and fee information shown to enquirers comes from text you approve (paragraph 8.8).
Retention rules and a lawful basis for every intake field, under UK GDPR.

Read more: why law firms need CRM, automation and AI, or go back to all law firm services.

Frequently asked questions

Should a law firm buy an off-the-shelf legal CRM or build a custom one?

If your intake is standard and your case management vendor offers a CRM that fits, buy it: it is faster to start. A custom CRM makes sense when your practice areas need different intake flows, when you want it built around your existing systems, or when per-user fees across a growing team outweigh a one-off build.

How much does a custom legal CRM cost?

Typically £8,000 to £24,000 depending on the number of practice areas, integrations and data migration. A single intake-and-follow-up workflow can start lower. Hosting typically runs £15 to £250 a month. You get a fixed price in writing before work starts.

How long does it take?

The first workflow, usually one practice area’s intake and follow-up, is typically live in two to four weeks. A full CRM across several practice areas with integrations usually takes six to twelve weeks, released in phases.

Does it replace our case management system?

No. The CRM covers everything before instruction and hands the new client to your case or practice management system when the matter opens, via its API where one exists (for example Clio’s) or through its import tools.

Who owns the system and the data?

You do. The code, the cloud account and the data are in your firm’s name, hosted in a UK region.