Get the other party’s name for conflict review with Penny’s legal answering service.

The attorney’s calendar first: Outlook or Google Calendar, so a consult is booked into real availability during the call and moves or cancels on a later one. Then the CRM or intake system that holds your leads, whether that is Salesforce, HubSpot, or a practice-management tool reached through Zapier, so the other party’s name and the matter type arrive where the conflict check runs. Signed webhooks cover anything custom, and a text confirmation to the caller sits on Pro.

Penny starts at $29 a month on Starter with annual billing. Pro at $99 adds the on-call schedule, text confirmations, and missed-call text-back, and Business at $249 adds compliance mode with redaction and retention controls. Paid plans include monthly minutes; usage above the allowance is billed at the plan’s per-minute rate. The answering service cost guide compares plans, included minutes, and usage charges.

No. Asked “do I have a case?”, she says the attorney answers that and moves on to booking the consult. She does not evaluate facts, estimate what a matter is worth, or describe how it is likely to end. What she does is capture the facts in the caller’s words, so the consult starts on substance instead of a recap.

Penny asks for the other party’s name before she offers a slot: the spouse, the employer, the company, the driver, whoever is on the other side. She asks about related parties when the matter suggests them and notes every name on the lead. Your office runs the check. Penny books when your firm’s clearance and scheduling rules allow; otherwise she records a preferred time for confirmation. She does not decide whether a conflict exists.

She asks whether the caller is a current client and, if so, follows the rule you set for them: transfer to the office, transfer to the attorney on call, or take a detailed message that goes to the assigned attorney by email. A current client with a court date or a filing due gets the same flag a new matter would. She never mixes a case update into the new-client intake.

Only the consult fee you have configured, stated when a caller asks and again when the consult is booked. If you offer free consults for some practice areas and paid ones for others, she reads from that schedule. She never names a retainer amount, an hourly rate, or a flat fee, and she never takes payment. Fee questions beyond the consult go on the lead for the attorney.

A matter outside your practice areas gets the referral line or bar-association number you provide, and no consult. A caller who says they already have counsel is told to contact that attorney. A caller who identifies as the other party on an existing matter is not put through; she takes their name and number for the attorney and ends the call. Each of these is a rule you can change.

Your firm and its ethics counsel decide what confidentiality notice callers receive before intake. Penny reads that notice verbatim and does not determine privilege. The greeting, including your recording notice, is configurable on every plan. Business compliance mode adds redaction and retention controls.

Reported service dates, court dates, and deadlines are flagged for the attorney under your callback or transfer rules. Penny records the date as stated and leaves its legal meaning to counsel. Immediate danger follows your emergency instructions, including directing the caller to 911 when required. Any consultation still follows the firm’s conflict-review rules.