How Law Firms Should Handle Enquiries Outside Their Practice Areas (Without Losing the Referral Fee or the Relationship)

27 September 2026·5 min read

Quick answer: A fast, warm referral-out — where you personally connect the enquirer to a trusted firm rather than just saying "we don't do that" — protects your reputation, often earns a referral fee where permitted, and builds a two-way referral relationship over time. A brush-off does none of those things. 🌴

Someone calls your conveyancing firm asking about a workplace dispute, or emails your family law practice about a business partnership breakup. It happens constantly, and most firms treat it as an admin inconvenience — a polite "sorry, that's not something we handle" and move on. 💖 That's a missed asset, not just a missed fee. The person still needed a lawyer, they still trusted you enough to call first, and how you handle that moment shapes whether they ever think of you again — and whether the firm you refer them to ever sends work back your way.

What most firms get wrong: treating an out-of-scope enquiry as a dead end

The default response in most firms is reactive and generic — a receptionist or junior staff member says "we don't do that area of law" and the call ends there. No name is taken, no warm handoff happens, and the enquirer is left to google "employment lawyer near me" themselves. That's a lost opportunity twice over: the person forgets your firm entirely, and a genuine referral relationship with another firm never gets the chance to form. A small amount of structure turns this into an asset instead of a dead end.

Please note: general information, not legal advice — check current official guidance before relying on it.

A fast referral-out process your intake team can actually follow:

Build a referral shortlist in advance — 2–3 trusted firms per common adjacent practice area (employment, criminal, commercial, family) that you know and rate.
Script the response: "That's not an area we practise in, but we work with a firm who handles this really well — would you like me to make an introduction?" This is warmer than "try googling it" and takes about ten seconds longer.
Get consent, then make a real introduction — an email or warm call to the other firm with the person's permission, not just a name and number handed over.
Log the referral in a simple spreadsheet or CRM note — who, when, referred to whom, and why — so you can track the relationship and follow up.
Check your professional conduct rules and any formal fee-sharing/referral agreement before assuming a referral fee applies — this varies by jurisdiction and firm arrangement.
Follow up with the receiving firm periodically to keep the relationship two-way, not a one-way pipeline of enquiries out the door.

A conveyancing firm: gets regular calls about neighbour boundary disputes that tip into litigation, outside their scope. They built a shortlist of two local litigation firms and now personally call ahead before transferring the enquirer, rather than just handing over a phone number. The litigation firms have started sending property settlement work back the other way.

A criminal defence firm: frequently fields calls from people who actually need a family lawyer (often related to the same underlying situation, like a domestic matter with both criminal and family law dimensions). A same-day warm introduction to a family law contact, with the client's consent, has become part of their standard intake script.

A commercial law firm: gets sole-trader enquiries about employment disputes and consumer complaints that fall outside their commercial focus. Rather than a flat "no," their receptionist offers a warm handoff to a small employment law practice they trust, and logs it in their CRM so the partners can see referral volume and follow up with a thank-you call each quarter.

How to actually build this into your intake process

Get the partners to agree on a shortlist of 2–3 trusted firms per adjacent practice area — this only works if the people making referrals actually rate the firms they're sending people to.
Write the script down and put it somewhere your intake team or receptionist can see it — don't rely on memory during a live call.
Always ask consent before sharing contact details with the other firm, and confirm what the person is comfortable having shared.
Track it. Even a simple spreadsheet with date, enquirer, area, referred-to firm gives you visibility on how much value is flowing out — and whether it's flowing back.
Check any referral fee or fee-sharing rules that apply in your jurisdiction and firm structure before assuming money changes hands — some referral arrangements are permitted, some aren't, and the details matter.
Revisit the shortlist every six months. Firms change focus, partners move, and a referral relationship that was strong two years ago might not be today.

💡 A warm referral only works if the other firm is genuinely good. Sending someone to a firm you don't actually rate, purely because you have an arrangement with them, will eventually damage your reputation more than a plain "we don't handle that" ever would. Vet the relationship before you formalise it.

Mistakes to avoid

Handing over a name and number with no context, and calling that a "referral" — it isn't, and it doesn't build the relationship.
Assuming a referral fee automatically applies without checking the relevant professional conduct rules for your jurisdiction.
Building a one-way pipeline where you refer out constantly but never receive anything back — a real referral network has to run both ways.
Letting referral relationships go stale — check in periodically rather than setting the shortlist once and forgetting it.

Frequently asked questions

Can we always charge a referral fee for sending work to another firm?

Not necessarily — this depends on the professional conduct rules that apply in your jurisdiction and any formal arrangement between the firms, and it's worth checking current guidance before assuming a fee is payable. Some referral relationships are informal goodwill arrangements with no fee at all.

What if we don't have any firms we'd confidently refer to yet?

Start building the list before you need it — ask colleagues, attend local law society events, or reach out directly to firms in adjacent areas to introduce yourselves. A referral network doesn't need to be large to be useful; two or three firms per practice area is a solid start.

Does this apply to enquiries that are just clearly not legal matters at all?

The same warm, respectful tone applies, but the referral-out process is really built for genuine legal enquiries outside your scope. For anything else, a polite decline is usually sufficient.

Should the solicitor or the receptionist make the referral call?

Either can work, as long as whoever does it is briefed on the shortlist and script. For higher-stakes or sensitive matters, a quick personal call from a solicitor tends to land better than a generic front-desk handoff.

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Written by

Kate, founder of Chronically Online

I help Gold Coast and Brisbane businesses grow with branding, websites and marketing that actually works.

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