I Called 50 Law Firms After 6 PM. Only 3 Picked Up. Here’s What Happened.
Last month I ran an experiment. I called 50 law firms in Los Angeles and surrounding areas between 6 PM and 9 PM on weekday evenings. Personal injury firms, criminal defense, family law, immigration. A mix of solo practices, small firms, and mid-size offices.
I wasn’t trying to trick anyone. I called as a potential client would. I described a situation and waited to see what happened.
Here are the results.
The Numbers
Out of 50 firms, 47 sent me to voicemail. That’s 94%.
Of those 47 voicemails, 31 were the standard “you’ve reached the law offices of…” recording with no callback timeframe mentioned. 9 said “we’ll return your call on the next business day.” 7 had a full mailbox or a voicemail that hadn’t been set up.
Only 3 firms out of 50 had a live answer after 6 PM.
One of those three was an answering service. A friendly person took my name and number and said “someone will call you back tomorrow morning.” No intake questions. No qualification. Just a message.
The second was another answering service with essentially the same script.
The third was different. I’ll get to that in a minute.
What the Voicemail Experience Feels Like
I want to describe what it’s like to be on the other end of that voicemail, because I think most firm owners have never actually experienced their own phone system as a caller would.
You’re stressed. Maybe you just got into an accident, or you just got served with papers, or you just got a call from a detective. You Google “attorney near me.” You tap the first number. It rings four times. Then a recording.
“You’ve reached the law offices of…” and then some combination of business hours, a fax number nobody uses, and an instruction to leave a message.
You hang up. You don’t leave a message. You call the next firm on the list.
That’s not speculation. Research from multiple legal industry studies shows that around two thirds of callers who reach a law firm voicemail hang up without leaving a message. They don’t leave a name. They don’t leave a number. They just move on.
The Websites Were Worse
While I had each firm’s Google listing open, I also checked their websites. I looked for live chat, chatbots, or any way to get an immediate response.
Out of 50 websites, 38 had a standard contact form. “Fill this out and we’ll get back to you.” No indication of when.
6 had a “chat” widget that was actually just a styled contact form. You type a message, hit send, and get “Thanks! Someone will be in touch.” That’s not chat. That’s a contact form with a chat icon.
The gap between what firms advertise and what callers actually experience is massive. And callers notice. They’re forming opinions about your firm within seconds of hitting that voicemail. The opinion is: “This firm is closed. I need someone who’s open.”
What the Answering Service Got Wrong
The one firm with an answering service was better than voicemail. At least someone picked up. But the interaction went like this:
“Thank you for calling [firm name], this is Sarah, how can I help you?”
“Hi, I was in a car accident last week and I think I need a lawyer.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Let me get your name and number and someone will call you back tomorrow.”
“Can I schedule a consultation now?”
“Unfortunately I can’t do that. But someone from the office will reach out first thing in the morning.”
End of call.
Now imagine you just had a car accident. You’re stressed. You finally worked up the courage to call a lawyer. And the best they can offer is “someone will call you back tomorrow.”
That’s not intake. That’s a voicemail with a human voice.
What a Great After-Hours Experience Could Look Like
This is what got me thinking about the problem in the first place. The technology to handle after-hours calls properly already exists. AI phone agents can pick up in under 3 seconds, have a natural conversation, ask qualifying questions specific to your practice areas, and book a consultation into your calendar.
The caller gets a text confirmation. The next morning, they get a reminder. The firm gets a full summary of the call before the appointment.
Total call time: about 3 minutes. A caller goes from “I think I need a lawyer” to “I have an appointment on Thursday” in one phone call at 7 PM on a Tuesday.
That’s what callers want. Not a message. Not a callback promise. An outcome.
The Revenue Implications
Let’s put numbers on this. The average personal injury case generates $4,000 to $15,000 in attorney fees. Some generate much more.
If each of those 50 firms misses just 2 qualified after-hours calls per week (and that’s conservative), and those leads go to a competitor, that’s 2 cases lost.
At $4,000 per case, that’s $8,000 per week. $32,000 per month. Close to $400,000 per year.
Multiply that across the 47 firms that didn’t answer? That’s millions of dollars in lost revenue sitting in voicemail boxes across Los Angeles alone.
What You Can Do About It
You have three options.
Option 1: Keep the voicemail. Lose the leads. Hope that the 33% who leave messages actually wait for your callback and haven’t already hired someone else.
Option 2: Hire an answering service. Someone picks up, takes a message, promises a callback. Better than voicemail. But no intake, no booking, no follow-up. You’re still losing leads to faster firms.
Option 3: Use AI that handles the full conversation. Pick up, qualify, book, confirm, follow up. 24/7. Under 3 seconds. No gaps.
That’s what we built at 2bizy. An AI receptionist that handles phone calls, webchat, and SMS for law firms. It doesn’t just take messages. It has the conversation, qualifies the lead, and books the appointment.
We’re offering a 30-day free trial. No setup fees, no contracts. You only pay after the system has generated 10 or more bookings for your firm.
Want to see how it works? Call Morgan at (213) 771-9777. She’s our AI. She’s available right now. Even if it’s after 6 PM.
Especially if it’s after 6 PM.
