Lawyers spend their best hours where a phone cannot follow: in court, in a closing, with a client. Meanwhile someone with a separation or a slip on an icy sidewalk is calling the next firm on the list. A legal answering service exists to catch that call.
This guide compares the three service models, lists published prices with the currency stated, sets out what the Law Society of Ontario and the Law Society of British Columbia expect, and gives you an intake script to adapt. General information, not legal advice.
What does a legal answering service actually do?
At minimum it answers in your firm's name, takes a message and passes it on. Better services run your intake: new or existing client, type of matter, the names of every party for a conflict search, and a consult slot from your calendar. Some transfer urgent calls to a lawyer's mobile.
The market is large enough that the choice matters. Statistics Canada counted 6,179 legal services locations with employees in the Toronto metro area and 651 in the City of Ottawa in June 2026. Most are small practices where the lawyer is also the person who would otherwise pick up.
Live, AI or hybrid: which model suits a Canadian law firm?
There are three ways to staff the line. Each solves a different problem, and each carries a different risk.
| Model | Who picks up | Where it is strong | Where it is weak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live answering service | Trained people in a shared call centre | Distressed callers, judgement calls, complex family or criminal enquiries | Billed per minute or per call, so busy months cost more; quality varies by agent |
| AI answering service | A voice agent working from your script | Every call answered at once, any hour, steady script, structured notes | Needs careful setup; must hand off anything outside the script |
| Hybrid | AI first, a person on escalation | AI handles the routine, a human takes the hard calls | Two layers to manage; handoff rules must be clear |
Checked October 2026. A summary of how the models work, not a ranking of providers.
How much does a legal answering service cost in Canada?
Four providers that serve Canadian firms, with prices from each provider's own page. Two publish in US dollars, one in Canadian dollars and one quotes on request. Check the unit: per call or per minute.
| Provider | Model | Published plans | Billing unit | Currency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smith.ai AI Receptionist | AI first, human backup available | Free tier for 25 calls; Pro $150 a month for 75 calls; Enterprise $500 a month for 300 calls | Per call | USD |
| Smith.ai receptionists | Live | $300 a month for 30 calls; $810 for 90; $2,100 for 300. Add-ons include conflict checks at $0.50 and bookings at $1.50 per call | Per call | USD |
| Ruby | Live | $250 a month for 50 minutes; $395 for 100; $720 for 200; $1,725 for 500 | Per minute | USD |
| LEX Reception | Live, legal only | Not published; plans quoted after a form or call | Per minute, rounded up | Quoted |
| Aria | AI, self-serve | Starter $59 a month for 150 minutes; Pro $189 for 600; Premium $389 for 1,200 | Per minute | CAD |
Checked October 2026 from each provider's pricing page. Taxes extra. US prices are shown in USD, not converted. Plans change; confirm before you sign.
Three things move the real bill more than the headline price:
- Call length. Legal intake runs long. LEX Reception's FAQ says it rounds every call up to the next minute, so a call of 2 minutes 28 seconds counts as 3. On a per-minute plan, a thorough script costs more each month.
- Add-ons. On Smith.ai's live plans, conflict checks and bookings are charged per call on top of the plan.
- Spam and wrong numbers. LEX Reception gives 30 calls under 30 seconds free each month. Ask every provider how short and spam calls are billed.
How many new matters go to voicemail?
Send us a week of call logs. We count missed and after-hours calls and tell you which model fits. Free, and yours to keep.
Get the free audit →What do Law Society rules require from an answering service?
Law societies regulate lawyers, not answering services, but the firm stays responsible for whoever answers on its behalf. Ontario and British Columbia both use rules numbered on the national model code, so the same sections line up.
| Duty | Ontario (LSO) | British Columbia (LSBC) | What it means for the answering service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confidentiality | Rule 3.3 | BC Code 3.3 | Everything a caller says is treated as confidential. Agents and vendors sign confidentiality terms; recordings and notes are access-controlled. |
| Conflicts of interest | Rule 3.4 | BC Code 3.4 | The service collects party names and stops there. A lawyer or trained staff member runs the search and decides. |
| Supervision and delegation | Rule 6.1 | BC Code 6.1 | The lawyer supervises the work and approves the script. Non-lawyers, human or software, do not give legal advice or accept a case on the firm's behalf. |
Checked October 2026. Rule numbers from the LSO Rules of Professional Conduct and the Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia. Other provinces have equivalent rules; check your own law society.
Two practical lines follow from those rules.
- No legal advice, ever. The script should say out loud that the person or system answering cannot give legal advice. If a caller asks "do I have a case?", the answer is a consult booking, not an opinion.
- Collect, do not clear. Taking the names of the caller, the other side and any related parties is intake. Telling the caller "we have no conflict" is a decision for the firm.
Privacy law applies too. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner says businesses that record customer calls must tell callers and explain why. If the vendor stores data outside Canada, the OPC's cross-border processing guidance says the firm stays accountable and should be open about it. Ontario lawyers testing AI tools can also read the LSO's note on generative AI and professional obligations.
What should a legal intake script say?
A good script is short, polite and built around the conflict search. This one works for live agents and for an AI agent; adjust the practice areas to yours.
| Step | What the caller hears | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Greeting | "Thank you for calling [Firm]. This call may be recorded so we can follow up accurately. I can take your details and book a consultation, but I can't give legal advice." | Recording notice and the no-advice line, up front |
| 2. New or existing | "Are you a current client of the firm, or is this a new matter?" | Existing clients go straight to a message or their lawyer |
| 3. Urgency | "Is anything due in the next few days, such as a court date, a deadline or a closing?" | Flags calls that need a lawyer now |
| 4. Matter type | "In a few words, what is this about? For example family, real estate, a car accident or employment." | Routes to the right lawyer or practice group |
| 5. Parties | "So we can check we're able to help, may I have your full name and the full name of the other person or company involved?" | Conflict search input; nothing is decided on the call |
| 6. Contact | "What's the best number and email, and is it safe to leave a message there?" | Protects callers in family or employment disputes |
| 7. Booking | "I can offer Tuesday at 10 or Wednesday at 2. Which suits you?" | Books into the firm's real calendar, pending the conflict check |
| 8. Close | "Someone from the firm will confirm after a quick internal check. If anything urgent comes up, call back and say it is urgent." | Sets expectations; no promise of representation |
Sample only. Have a lawyer at your firm approve the final wording.
Step 6 is the one most templates skip. In a family matter, a message on a shared phone can put a caller at risk.
How should urgent and after-hours calls be handled?
Decide the escalation rules before launch, and write them down. Common triggers that should reach a lawyer the same night:
- Someone has been arrested or is being held, for criminal defence firms.
- A hearing or court appearance is set for the next business day.
- A real estate closing is today or tomorrow and funds or documents are stuck.
- A caller mentions a safety risk in a family matter. Give emergency numbers first, then escalate.
Everything else can go into the next open consult slot, summarised by email for the morning. AI applies the same sorting rules at 3 a.m. as at noon; a person is better at hearing what a caller leaves unsaid, so many firms send urgent flags to a human.
Which questions should you ask a provider before signing?
- Where are recordings, transcripts and notes stored, and for how long?
- Who can access them, and do agents or subcontractors sign confidentiality terms?
- Do you collect conflict-check names in a structured field, or in free text?
- How do you bill short calls, spam and transfers?
- Can callers be served in French, and who reviews the French script?
For a wider comparison of service types, see our guide to the virtual receptionist for law firms in Canada. If you have already decided on AI, our criteria for the best AI receptionist for law firms go deeper on vendor scoring, and AI for law firms shows how intake, follow-up and reviews fit together.
Get an intake plan your lawyers sign off.
We review your call flow and draft the script and escalation rules. Founder-led and free.
Book the free audit →Legal answering service in Canada: FAQ
What is a legal answering service?
A service that answers a law firm's phone when staff cannot. It takes messages, screens new matters, collects party names for a conflict check and books consults. It can be run by live agents, an AI agent or both.
Can a legal answering service give legal advice?
No. Under the Law Society rules in Ontario and British Columbia, non-lawyers must not give legal advice, and that includes answering services and AI agents. The script should say so and offer a consult instead.
Who runs the conflict check when an answering service takes the call?
The firm does. The service collects the caller's name and the names of other parties. A lawyer or trained staff member runs the search and decides whether the firm can act.
Is a legal answering service confidential?
It must be. The firm stays responsible for confidentiality under rule 3.3, so ask the provider where recordings and notes are stored, who can see them and whether agents sign confidentiality terms.
How much does a legal answering service cost in Canada?
Published plans checked in October 2026 range from $59 CAD a month for 150 AI minutes at Aria to $2,100 USD a month for 300 live calls at Smith.ai. LEX Reception quotes on request. Check the billing unit and currency.
Can an Ontario law firm use an AI answering service?
Yes, if a lawyer supervises it. The AI takes details and books consults, never gives advice or decides conflicts, tells callers about recording, and hands urgent or unusual calls to a person.
Can a legal answering service answer in French?
Some can. Aria publishes English and French support; ask any other provider directly. With AGNT/01, French call handling is set up per client on request, and a fluent speaker reviews the French script before launch.
Sources
Last verified October 2026. General information, not legal advice.
- Statistics Canada. Canadian Business Counts, with employees, June 2026 (table 33-10-1176-01)
- Law Society of Ontario. Rules of Professional Conduct, Chapter 3 and Chapter 6; Generative AI: your professional obligations
- Law Society of British Columbia. Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia
- Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Recording of customer telephone calls; Guidelines for processing personal data across borders
- Provider pages (checked October 2026): Smith.ai AI Receptionist pricing, Smith.ai receptionist pricing, Ruby plans and pricing, LEX Reception plans and LEX Reception FAQs, Aria pricing