How lawyers can let clients book a first consultation

Open the first consultation as its own bookable service, with a fixed length and a clear price shown upfront, one service per area of law if you practise several. Ask for the subject, any deadline and the other parties' names in the booking note so you can run your conflict check before the meeting. Tell the client what to bring, keep a few slots each week for these first meetings, and hold longer work sessions for clients who have instructed you.

A first consultation is different from the rest of your work. The person may not yet be a client, the subject is still vague, and your goal is to understand the situation, give a first view and explain how you would work and what it would cost. Mixing these meetings with ongoing files in one undifferentiated diary leads either to first meetings squeezed between hearings, or to clients booking a two-hour slot for a five-minute question.

On Book, create a service called, for example, "First consultation: employment law", with a description of what happens and its price. Clients see exactly what they book.

Choose a length that lets you understand the facts and answer the main question, without turning into a full working session. Show the price in the service so there's no surprise. Book doesn't take payment, so say in the description how the fee is paid: at the office, by transfer after the meeting, or with your usual invoice.

Ask in the service description for three things in the booking note: the subject in a few words, the next deadline or hearing date if any, and the names of the other parties. You receive an email for each new booking, with the note, which gives you time to check for conflicts. If there is one, call the person, cancel the booking from your list and, where you can, suggest another firm.

Ask clients not to write sensitive details in the note. The booking form already collects first name, last name, email and phone; the full story belongs in the meeting.

Write this list in the service description, so the client prepares before coming rather than bringing a bag of papers without order.

First consultations bring new mandates, but they also take time away from files you're already paid for. Decide how many you want each week and open only those slots, for example two on Tuesday afternoon and two on Thursday morning. Create each slot once and repeat it on the weekdays you choose until an end date. When your diary is full with hearings, simply open fewer.

If you work in several areas, separate services let you open more slots for the area you want to develop.

Some matters can't wait for next week's first-consultation slot: a hearing in three days, a dismissal meeting tomorrow, a deadline to appeal. The booking note is where you spot them. When a note shows an urgent date, call the person, find an earlier time and book it yourself from your calendar. Keeping one slot a week unopened gives you room for these cases without cancelling anyone.

When the client instructs you, the next meetings are usually scheduled with you directly: book them yourself from your calendar, at the length they need. If a meeting has to move, reschedule it from your bookings list and tell the client, since Book doesn't email them when a booking changes. Your calendar syncs with Google, iPhone or Mac, next to your hearings and deadlines.

Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited bookings and services, no commission and no contract. Firms with several lawyers have one booking page per firm; a simple workaround is one service per lawyer.