How do law firms answer calls after hours?

The four options

• Forward to your cell: free, and you are the receptionist at 11 pm. Most lawyers stop answering within a month.
• Live answering service: $300 to $900 a month for typical coverage (Alert Communications, "How much does a legal answering service cost?" (Oct 2026)). Good for a human voice; after-hours and holiday minutes often cost more.
• Voicemail: free, and a caller who reaches it usually calls the next firm on the list.
• LexFlo: $199 a month with 300 call minutes included, then $0.35 a minute, up to a monthly cap you set. No setup fee. Same behavior at 2 pm and 2 am.

What an after-hours urgent call looks like

A caller says their brother was arrested tonight. Sara gets the caller's name and callback number, tells them she is flagging it for the attorney, takes the message, finishes the intake and books the first open consultation. The attorney's email for the call carries the message and is marked URGENT.

A call is marked urgent when someone is in jail or detention right now (ICE detention counts), was arrested today, has a court date within 48 hours, or the caller says it is an emergency. The attorney's email for that call is marked URGENT.

What it does not do after hours

It does not call the attorney and does not promise a callback time. The attorney decides what to do with the email. For firms using our guarded booking setup, callers whose details don't match the contact on file are referred to the office for scheduling. Changes to an existing consultation, callers using someone else's phone, and matters the firm doesn't take go to the office.