AI coworker

Client intake for a small Scottish law firm

A new enquiry is only the start of a file. In a Scottish solicitors' firm, the matter is not really open until the client has the required information in writing, identity documents and, where the work is in scope, source-of-funds evidence have been collected, and a complete pack can be handed to the fee-earner.

None of those steps is difficult to describe. Together they are the intake bottleneck: a terms-of-business letter that has not gone out, a passport copy still outstanding, bank statements that do not yet show how the money was accumulated, and a fee-earner waiting on a file that is not ready to move.

Lorework is an AI coworker for that work. It works through the web systems you already use, on its own computer. The wider coworker model for Scottish firms is set out on the solicitors page. This page is about client intake. It is written for firms in Scotland, where the Law Society of Scotland — not the Solicitors Regulation Authority — is the starting regulator.

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From enquiry to a written start

The Law Society of Scotland's Rule B4 on client communication requires solicitors, when tendering for business or at the earliest practical opportunity after receiving instructions, to give the client certain information in writing: an outline of the work; an estimate of the total fee or the basis on which the fee will be charged, including VAT and outlays (with a different formulation where the client is receiving legal aid or advice and assistance); who will principally do the work; who the client should contact if they are concerned; and confirmation that, if that person cannot resolve the concern, the client may complain to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, with the Commission's current contact details.

The Society's guidance on client communication generally (updated 11 November 2024) is clear about what to call that document. Terminology such as letters of engagement, terms of engagement, terms of business letters and terms and conditions is often used interchangeably, but the guidance uses "terms of business letter" and says it is good practice to use the same term consistently so the client knows which document is being referred to. The information does not have to be in a single letter, but it is good practice to put it in one, and it is reasonable to email it. The guidance also expects the letter to name the firm's Client Relations Manager, to signpost the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission — not the Law Society of Scotland — as the gateway for legal complaints, and to set out the Commission's contact details. A delay in issuing the letter has been upheld as inadequate professional service.

The Society's Standards of Service make the same point in plainer language. Solicitors should send a letter as soon as possible after the first instruction covering the work, the fees or the basis of charge, who will do the work, and who to speak to if the client is unhappy. The standards also expect a letter of engagement, or its equivalent, that clearly explains the service, how the work will be carried out, who is responsible, and the cost. Regular clients who instruct the same type of work should be sent such a letter whenever the terms change. Rule B4 itself has a matching exception: a regular client need not be given the rule 4.2 information again for a new instruction of the same type, provided they have had it before and are told of any differences.

That letter is the written start of the file, not a formality to catch up with later. The admin around it is issuing it promptly when instructions arrive, sending a revised version if the scope changes, and chasing if it has not been acknowledged.

ID checks and source of funds, before the file is allowed to move

For much of a firm's work — including buying and selling property, and managing client money — the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 bring the practice within scope for anti-money-laundering duties. Those Regulations are UK-wide. The Law Society of Scotland is the AML supervisor for firms whose registered office is in Scotland; the Society's AML FAQs record that this split with the Solicitors Regulation Authority is based on the location of the registered office.

The Regulations are specific about timing. Regulation 27 requires a relevant person to apply customer due diligence measures when establishing a business relationship. Regulation 30 requires the identity of the customer, any person purporting to act for them, and any beneficial owner, to be verified before the business relationship is established or the transaction is carried out. Verification may be completed during the establishment of the relationship only if that is necessary not to interrupt the normal conduct of business, there is little risk of money laundering or terrorist financing, and the verification is completed as soon as practicable after contact is first established.

On what that looks like in a file, the Society's AML FAQs are practical. When verifying the identity of a client, it is generally understood that the firm will request, as a minimum for a natural person, an identification document such as a passport and an original proof of address. Source of funds is a separate, and often slower, collection. It means more than knowing the money came from a UK bank account. It means understanding how and from where the client got the money for this transaction — for example savings from employment, or a gift — with evidence in line with the risk, including remitting-account details and an understanding of the activity that generated the funds. Bank statements may show possession and transit of the funds, and that the account is in the client's name, but collecting documents is not the same as considering them. Source of wealth, meaning the origin of the client's wider assets, is required as part of enhanced due diligence for politically exposed persons and should be considered in other higher-risk cases.

Those professional judgements stay with the firm. The bottleneck is familiar: a matter cannot properly start, or a purchase cannot move, while a passport copy, a proof of address, or a set of bank statements is still outstanding. The reminder, the log of what has arrived, and the chase for what has not, are the repetitive admin. The definition of done, for intake, is a complete pack handed to the fee-earner: terms of business issued, the identity and source-of-funds evidence the firm requires for this matter collected, and the file ready for the work itself to begin.

What an AI coworker does at intake

Your team works with Lorework in chat. You can require approval before it writes or submits anything. Follow-ups, checks and missing-document reminders can run as scheduled, recurring tasks.

Typical starting bottlenecks at intake in a Scottish firm are:

Issuing the terms-of-business letter when instructions arrive, or a revised letter if the scope changes, and chasing if it has not been acknowledged.
Sending the firm's usual request for identity documents and, where the matter is in scope, source-of-funds evidence.
A running list of what is still outstanding, and reminders for the specific document that has not arrived.
A clear flag when the pack is complete and can be handed to the fee-earner, or when a deadline on the matter is approaching with the file still incomplete.
Recurring checks, such as a Monday sweep of new enquiries that have no terms of business out, or matters still waiting on ID.

Lorework does not give legal advice, draft or issue terms of business on its own authority, complete or approve customer due diligence, decide that source-of-funds evidence is sufficient, or open a matter in the practice system as a substitute for the firm's own checks. Those stay with the firm. It takes on the admin around that work.

How you teach it the way your firm works

You do not have to write a technical specification. Your team teaches Lorework your procedures and templates, in chat, the way you would brief a new starter — a terms-of-business issue, an ID request, a missing-document reminder. You can ask it in chat, or set recurring work on a schedule.

It works in the web systems you already use, on its own computer. There is no need to rip out the practice systems you already run.

How a firm starts

Start with one routine job, such as the terms-of-business issue on new instructions or the reminder loop for outstanding identity documents, not a wholesale change of tools. Add the procedures and templates Lorework should follow. A 30-minute demo is enough to walk through that job and see how Lorework would take it on.

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Questions

What does client intake involve in a Scottish solicitors' firm?

Typically: receiving the enquiry and the instruction, issuing a terms-of-business letter with the information Rule B4 and the Standards of Service require, collecting identity documents and, where the work is in scope, source-of-funds evidence, chasing whatever is still missing, and handing a complete file to the fee-earner.

Can it complete ID checks or decide that source-of-funds evidence is sufficient?

No. Lorework is for the admin around intake, not for completing or approving customer due diligence, and not for a professional judgement on source of funds or source of wealth. The firm remains responsible for that work. The Money Laundering Regulations 2017, which are UK-wide, generally require identity to be verified before the business relationship is established.

What should go in the terms of business at the start of a matter?

Rule B4 requires, in writing, an outline of the work, the fee or the basis of charge including VAT and outlays, who will principally do the work, who to contact with a concern, and the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission's contact details if that person cannot resolve it. The Society's guidance also expects the firm's Client Relations Manager to be named, and says it is good practice to put the information in a single terms-of-business letter, which may be emailed.

Is this the same as a "client care letter" under the Solicitors Regulation Authority?

No. This page is written for Scottish firms. The starting regulator is the Law Society of Scotland, and the written start of the file is the terms of business required by Rule B4 and the Standards of Service. The Solicitors Regulation Authority supervises firms whose registered office is in England or Wales, including for AML. Do not treat SRA client-care rules as the rules of a Scottish firm.

Can it open a matter or start the legal work before the file is complete?

No. Lorework does not open a matter as a substitute for the firm's own checks, and it does not start the legal work. It takes on the reminders and the outstanding-document list so that a complete pack can be handed to the fee-earner.

How does a firm start?

Start with one routine job, such as issuing terms of business on new instructions or the reminder loop for outstanding identity documents, not a change of systems. A 30-minute demo is enough to walk through that job and see how Lorework would take it on.