MyCase Client Intake: From Online Lead to Open Case

• Treat the MyCase Online Leads sub-tab as a review queue; a website submission should not become an accepted matter by implication.
• Map intake questions only after deciding which Contact, Contact Custom, Case Custom, or unmapped destination should hold each answer.
• Use lead statuses, owners, tasks, consultations, and eSignature states to expose the next decision instead of relying on memory or inboxes.
• Handle returning clients deliberately during conversion so a duplicate contact does not split history, trust activity, billing details, or communication context.
• Verify the new case after conversion, including identity, linked contacts, deadlines, access, documents, billing, and the first authorized client communication.

MyCase online lead forms can be limited to an authorized website domain and built with standard contact fields, contact custom fields, case custom fields, and unmapped fields. They also support client-facing labels, required questions, conditional logic, preview, a public link, and embed code. Before building, inventory each proposed question, its business purpose, sensitivity, destination, owner, and retention need. Collecting information merely because a field exists creates noise and unnecessary exposure.

Mapping requires a controlled test because intake submissions can change persistent data. The MyCase intake-form overview explains that mapped answers populate standard or custom fields and that a client's submitted value can overwrite a value the firm already entered in that mapped field. Decide which fields prospects may update, which determinations must remain internal, and when an unmapped response is safer. Test blanks, long text, multiple people, punctuation, conditional branches, duplicate email addresses, and a second submission for an existing record.

Dynamic logic should shorten the form and improve relevance, not conceal a policy decision. For example, a practice-area answer may reveal a focused set of follow-up questions, but it should not silently decide that the firm accepts the work. Write plain-language instructions, include an accessible alternate contact method, warn that the form is not an emergency channel, and verify the experience on a phone. Review the resulting MyCase record and attachment before enabling the form on the live domain.

• Maintain a field map that distinguishes Contact, Contact Custom, Case Custom, and unmapped answers for every intake question.
• Protect staff-owned determinations from client overwrite by testing mapped fields against records that already contain values.
• Exercise every conditional branch and confirm required fields do not trap a prospect whose situation follows an unexpected path.
• Use harmless synthetic identities for testing and remove or label the resulting MyCase leads according to the firm's test-data procedure.

A lead record should show the next accountable action. MyCase tasks can be associated with a lead, assigned to firm users or clients, given a due date, priority, checklist, estimate, and reminder. Use those fields to distinguish information gathering, conflict work, consultation scheduling, fee review, engagement-document preparation, and decline communication. Do not hide a required decision inside a personal calendar or an unassigned note that nobody monitors.

MyCase eSignature can be used with leads and cases and supports multiple clients, countersignatures, merge fields, text fields, and visible states such as Unsent, Pending, and Signed. The current help center identifies eSignature as a Pro and Advanced capability, so confirm the firm's subscription before designing around it. Once a version has been sent, MyCase says that version cannot be changed. Templates therefore need an owner, approved source language, access review, naming convention, and a test for every signer role before use.

A signed document is evidence of a signature workflow, not a universal green light. The firm still needs explicit criteria for conflicts, scope, jurisdiction, capacity, payment terms, countersignature, and any other required acceptance step. Use a checklist that references the relevant MyCase task, document state, and authorized reviewer. MyCase case workflows can create task and calendar-event plans after a case exists, but the current workflow documentation should not be treated as proof of a fully automatic pre-case approval engine.

• Assign lead tasks to roles or named users with due dates, reminders, and escalation paths instead of relying on informal follow-up.
• Separate consultation completion, conflict resolution, engagement approval, client signature, countersignature, and payment decisions.
• Restrict eSignature template editing to people who understand the firm's approved documents and can test signer and merge-field behavior.
• Use non-client test records to confirm document selection, signer order, recipients, merge values, status changes, and final storage in MyCase.

Submitted online lead forms enter the Online Leads sub-tab. MyCase says the firm can approve or delete the submission; approval creates the lead details, attaches the form, and places the lead in the first column of the lead status board. Assign a person and response target to that queue.

Yes. The MyCase intake-form documentation says a submitted value mapped to a standard or custom field can overwrite a value the firm previously entered in that field. Test every mapping and reserve staff-owned conclusions for fields that a prospect cannot unintentionally replace.

A mapped answer populates a selected Contact, Contact Custom, or Case Custom field that can support later operations and reporting. An unmapped answer remains associated with the form without becoming that structured record value. Choose deliberately according to purpose, sensitivity, and ownership.

No. Conditional logic can show relevant questions based on earlier answers, but those answers are inputs to the firm's review. Conflict clearance, scope, capacity, jurisdiction, fee approval, and engagement acceptance should remain explicit decisions made under firm policy.

Use Associate with Existing Client when identity checks confirm the match. Review any duplicate contact for trust deposits, notes, communications, custom fields, billing details, documents, and portal state before unlinking or archiving it, because relevant history may be split between records.

Verify the client, related contacts, case description, responsible team, practice area, stage, office, access, critical dates, engagement evidence, tasks, documents, billing arrangement, and portal state. Resolve anything that failed to map before substantive work begins.

Useful measures include time to online-lead review, unassigned leads, age by status, overdue tasks, incomplete forms, mapping defects, pending signatures, returning-client duplicates, reasons lost, conversion exceptions, and new cases missing the opening checklist. Pair volume measures with quality and professional obligations.