Can a Claude project answer prospective clients' fee questions?

Yes, if your fee schedule is in the project's files and the instructions say to quote only from it and to say what each flat fee covers. Have an attorney approve the instructions, and read each reply before it goes out.

How do I stop Claude from giving legal advice in intake emails?

Put the rule in the project instructions: never give legal advice or predict an outcome about property, support or custody; offer a consultation instead. In the lesson, the prospective client asks whether she will keep the house and the reply offers a consultation with the attorney.

Should I upload client files to a Claude project?

No. Keep matter notes, filings and anything confidential out of it. Use the project for firm documents like the fee schedule and intake policy, on a business plan that doesn't train on your data, and follow your firm's policy on AI tools.

What does the conflict-check step look like in the reply?

The reply asks for the full names of both spouses, and nothing else about the other person, before a consultation is booked. That rule comes from the intake policy in the project.

Yes. Stepthrough is completely free and the practice copy needs no accounts. To do it for real you need a Claude account; projects are on every plan, including Free, with limits.

Claude Projects for Law Firms: Intake Fee Replies (Free)

Free · Live nowAI Automation for Law Firms Claude~9 min22 stepsBeginner

Updated October 21, 2026. Built against the tool’s current screens and checked step by step. How we check this lesson

"How much does an uncontested divorce cost, and will I keep the house?" Every family-law firm gets that email, often from someone on one of the hardest weeks of their life. A good answer quotes the right fees, says what the flat fee covers, asks for the names the firm needs for its conflict check, and does not answer the question about the house in an email. In this free, interactive lesson you set up a Claude project that knows all of it: your tone and intake rules as project instructions, and your fee schedule and engagement and intake policy as project knowledge. Then a chat inside the project writes the reply without you explaining anything.

At a glance

Question	Answer
What you build	Create a Claude project for a family-law firm, give it your tone and intake rules, add your fee schedule and engagement policy as project knowledge, and answer a prospective client’s cost question with the right fees, the conflict-check step and no legal advice by email.
Tools	Claude
Time	About 9 minutes, 22 steps in 5 parts
Level	Beginner, no coding needed
Cost	Free
Ways to learn it	Practice it step by step, read the guide with screenshots

The 5 parts, in short

Create the project: Open Projects, Start a new project, Name it, Describe it, and 1 more step.
Set the instructions: Add instructions, Write your tone and policies, Save them.
Add project knowledge: Add files, Upload from your computer, Pick the fee schedule, Add the intake policy, and 1 more step.
Get a quote: Start a chat in the project, Paste a prospective client’s email, Send it, See where the answer came from, and 1 more step.
Improve it as you go: Go back to the project, Edit the instructions, Add a rule, Save the change.

Start here first: Claude Projects for Your Business: Instructions, Knowledge and Quotes. This Law Firms version follows the same build with its own example business, Harlow & Pierce Family Law.

Part of: AI for Law Firms (step 14 of 15). Next up: Build an n8n AI Agent That Turns a Lawyer's Rough Notes into Time Entries

A Claude Project for Your Law Firm's Intake Desk: Fees, the Conflict Check and No Legal Advice by Email: step-by-step guide with screenshots

About the screenshots. They come from Stepthrough’s simulated practice environment (a practice copy of Claude), not the live tool, so no real account appears. The buttons and labels match the real screens the lesson was built against. Practice it yourself free at learn.ynteractive.com.

Tools: Claude
Time: about 9 minutes, 22 steps in 5 parts
Level: beginner, no coding needed

Part 1: Create the project

Step 1: Open Projects

Right now, every new chat starts from scratch, so you'd have to explain your fees and your intake rules every time someone asks what a divorce costs. A project fixes that.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 1 of 22 (Open Projects): the cursor is on “Projects”, highlighted. — **Step 1 of 22.** Right now Claude starts every chat knowing nothing about your business. A **project** fixes that. Click **Projects** in the sidebar.

Step 2: Start a new project

This page lists all your projects. You might also see an example project from Anthropic here.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 2 of 22 (Start a new project): the cursor is on “New project”, highlighted. — **Step 2 of 22.** This page lists all your projects. You may see an example project from Anthropic here. Click **New project** at the top right.

Step 3: Name it

Under What are you working on, give the project a name.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 3 of 22 (Name it): “Harlow & Pierce Intake” is typed in, highlighted. — **Step 3 of 22.** Under **What are you working on?**, type **Harlow & Pierce Intake**.

Step 4: Describe it

Under What are you trying to achieve, say what the project is for. The description shows under the project's name, so it's easy to tell your projects apart.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 4 of 22 (Describe it): the description is ready to paste, highlighted. — **Step 4 of 22.** Under **What are you trying to achieve?**, say what the project is for. Paste in the description.

Replies to prospective clients for Harlow & Pierce Family Law: fees, the conflict check and how to book a consultation, in our tone and within our intake rules.

Step 5: Create it

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 5 of 22 (Create it): the cursor is on “Create project”, highlighted. — **Step 5 of 22.** Click **Create project**.

Part 2: Set the instructions

Step 6: Add instructions

This is your project's page. Next to the message box are Instructions, Context, Memory and Scheduled. Instructions tell Claude how to behave in every chat in this project: your tone, and your rules.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 6 of 22 (Add instructions): the cursor is on “Add”, highlighted. — **Step 6 of 22.** This is the project's page. Next to the message box are **Instructions**, **Context**, **Memory** and **Scheduled** (in a narrow window they sit below it). Instructions tell Claude how to behave in every chat here. Click **Add** next to **Instructions**.

Step 7: Write your tone and policies

Write down how your firm talks to people who are thinking about hiring you, and the rules intake always follows. Quote fees only from the fee schedule. Ask for both spouses' names for the conflict check, and nothing more. Say you aren't their lawyers until they sign. And never give legal advice by email: offer a consultation instead.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 7 of 22 (Write your tone and policies): the instructions is ready to paste, highlighted. — **Step 7 of 22.** Say who Claude is helping, the **tone** you want, and your **intake rules**: fees only from the fee schedule, ask for both spouses’ names for the conflict check, not your lawyers until they sign, and **no legal advice by email**. Paste in the instructions.

You help Renee Alvarez, the intake coordinator at Harlow & Pierce Family Law, answer people who are thinking about hiring the firm. Write in a calm, kind, plain voice. Many readers are going through a hard time: no legal jargon, no pressure. Sign emails as Renee Alvarez, Client Intake.
Policies: Quote fees only from the fee schedule in this project, and say what a flat fee covers and what it doesn't. Court fees are separate. Before anyone can book a consultation we run a conflict check, so ask for the full names of both spouses and nothing else about the other person. Say we are not their lawyers until they sign an engagement agreement. Never give legal advice or predict an outcome about property, support or custody; offer a consultation with Nadia Pierce instead.

Step 8: Save them

As the window says, these work alongside the instructions in your own profile, but they only apply inside this project.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 8 of 22 (Save them): the cursor is on “Save instructions”, highlighted. — **Step 8 of 22.** These work alongside your own profile instructions in Settings, but only inside this project. Click **Save instructions**.

Part 3: Add project knowledge

Step 9: Add files

Now give Claude the facts it should work from. That's your project knowledge. Instructions are how Claude should act, and context is what it should know.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 9 of 22 (Add files): the cursor is on “Add”, highlighted. — **Step 9 of 22.** Now the facts Claude should work from: your project knowledge, under **Context**. Click **Add** next to **Context**.

Step 10: Upload from your computer

You can upload files, paste in text, or connect GitHub or Google Drive. Point at Upload from device, then click Files.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 10 of 22 (Upload from your computer): the cursor is on “Files”, highlighted. — **Step 10 of 22.** You can upload files, add text you paste in, or connect GitHub or Google Drive. Point at **Upload from device**, then click **Files**.

Step 11: Pick the fee schedule

Your computer’s file window opens.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 11 of 22 (Pick the fee schedule): the cursor is on “Harlow Pierce fee schedule 2026.pdf”, highlighted. — **Step 11 of 22.** Click **Harlow Pierce fee schedule 2026.pdf**.

Step 12: Add the intake policy

Hold Control, or Command on a Mac, and click the engagement and intake policy, so both files are selected. Leave the matter notes alone. A client's file doesn't belong in a project.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 12 of 22 (Add the intake policy): the cursor is on “Engagement and intake policy.pdf”, highlighted. — **Step 12 of 22.** Hold **Ctrl** (**Cmd** on a Mac) and click **Engagement and intake policy.pdf** to select it too. Leave **Okafor matter notes** alone: client files don’t belong in a project.

Step 13: Upload them

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 13 of 22 (Upload them): the cursor is on “Open”, highlighted. — **Step 13 of 22.** Click **Open**.

Part 4: Get a quote

Step 14: Start a chat in the project

Both files are now in the project. Context says two files. Every chat you start here can use them, so you never attach them again.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 14 of 22 (Start a chat in the project): the cursor is on “message box”, highlighted. — **Step 14 of 22.** Both files are now project knowledge: **Context** says **2 files**. Every chat in this project can use them. Click the **message box** at the top.

Step 15: Paste a prospective client’s email

Someone who is just starting a divorce wants to know what it will cost, and whether she'll keep the house. Notice you don't mention fees, the conflict check or your tone. The project already knows.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 15 of 22 (Paste a prospective client’s email): the request is ready to paste, highlighted. — **Step 15 of 22.** Paste in the email and ask for a reply. Notice you don’t mention fees, the conflict check or your tone. Paste in the request.

A prospective client, Tasha Greene, emailed: "Hi, my husband and I have agreed to divorce. We have one daughter, she's 8, and we own a house together. How much do you charge for an uncontested divorce? Is it still the flat fee if we need help with a parenting plan? And will I be able to keep the house?" Write my reply.

Step 16: Send it

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 16 of 22 (Send it): the cursor is on “send”, highlighted. — **Step 16 of 22.** Click the **send** arrow.

Step 17: See where the answer came from

Look at the top: this chat lives inside your project.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 17 of 22 (See where the answer came from): the cursor is on “Quoting the fee schedule and checking the intake policy”, highlighted. — **Step 17 of 22.** The top bar shows the project name, then the chat. Click **Quoting the fee schedule and checking the intake policy** to see how Claude worked it out. (Claude writes this line itself, so yours will differ.)

Step 18: Check the reply and copy it

The fees, and what the flat fee covers, came from your fee schedule. The conflict check, what happens if the case becomes contested, and the line about not being her lawyers yet came from your policy and your instructions. And Tasha's question about the house got an offer of a consultation, not a guess. Read it once, then click the copy button on the email box.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 18 of 22 (Check the reply and copy it): the cursor is on “copy”, highlighted. — **Step 18 of 22.** The fees and what the flat fee covers come from your fee schedule. The **conflict check**, the **contested** rule and "not your lawyers yet" come from your intake policy and instructions, and the house question gets a **consultation with Nadia**, not an answer. Check it, then click the **copy** button on the email box.

Part 5: Improve it as you go

Step 19: Go back to the project

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 19 of 22 (Go back to the project): the cursor is on “Harlow & Pierce Intake”, highlighted. — **Step 19 of 22.** Click **Harlow & Pierce Intake** at the top to go back to the project page.

Step 20: Edit the instructions

Your chat is saved in the project. After a few chats, the Memory section fills in with what Claude has learned about this work. It stays in this project, and only you can see it. When a reply keeps missing something, don't just fix that one chat. Fix the instructions.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 20 of 22 (Edit the instructions): the cursor is on “View”, highlighted. — **Step 20 of 22.** The chat is saved in the project. After a few chats, **Memory** (click **View**) fills in with what Claude learns about this work, for this project only. When a reply misses something, fix the instructions rather than the chat. Click **Edit** next to **Instructions**.

Step 21: Add a rule

Add one more rule at the end. Every email to a prospective client asks them not to send documents or private details by email, and says the email doesn't make the firm their lawyer.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 21 of 22 (Add a rule): the new rule is ready to paste, highlighted. — **Step 21 of 22.** Add one line at the end: ask people not to email documents or private details, and say the email doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship. Paste in the new rule.

End every email to a prospective client with: Please don’t send documents or private details by email. This email does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Step 22: Save the change

From now on, every new chat in this project follows the new rule, and you never have to say it again.

Claude in Stepthrough’s practice copy, step 22 of 22 (Save the change): the cursor is on “Save instructions”, highlighted. — **Step 22 of 22.** Click **Save instructions**. Every new chat in the project follows the new rule.

Part of these free courses: AI for Law Firms

Now do it yourself, free

Reading the steps is a start. Doing them is how it sticks. The interactive lesson puts you in a practice copy of Claude: you do every step yourself, it checks your work, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on. Nothing touches your real accounts.

Practice “A Claude Project for Your Law Firm's Intake Desk: Fees, the Conflict Check and No Legal Advice by Email” step by step

The example: a prospective client asks about cost, and the house

Harlow & Pierce Family Law is a made-up firm, and Renee handles client intake. Tasha Greene, a made-up prospective client, writes that she and her husband have agreed to divorce, they have an 8-year-old daughter and own a house, and she wants to know what an uncontested divorce costs, whether the flat fee still applies if they need a parenting plan, and whether she will be able to keep the house.

The project's fee schedule lists a $250 consultation (credited if she hires the firm within 30 days), a $3,500 uncontested flat fee that includes one parenting plan, filing and one hearing, a $7,500 retainer for contested matters, and court fees paid separately. The intake policy says the firm runs a conflict check before booking, and that legal questions are answered only in a consultation. Claude's reply quotes the fees, says the parenting plan is covered, explains what happens if the case becomes contested, asks for both spouses' full names, says the firm isn't her lawyer until she signs, and offers a consultation with the attorney for the house question.

Who this lesson is for

Intake coordinators, legal assistants, paralegals, office managers and solo attorneys at small firms who answer the same "what will it cost?" email every week. If your firm has a fee schedule and a written intake policy, you have everything you need. No technical skills, and no Claude account to practice here.

It is part of the AI for Law Firms course, after the case-update reply and intake summary modules.

Why the advice rule belongs in the instructions

Almost every prospective client slips in a question about property, support or custody. Answered by intake in a quick email, it can read as legal advice, before a conflict check and before anyone has signed an engagement agreement. Writing the rule once in the project instructions means every chat answers it the same way: that is a question for a consultation with the attorney.

The conflict check works the same way. The instructions ask for both spouses' full names and nothing else about the other person, so intake never collects more than it needs before the check is done.

What to put in the project, and what to keep out

Good project knowledge: the fee schedule, the engagement and intake policy, consultation booking steps and attorney-approved email templates.
Keep out: matter notes, filings, financial records and anything a client told you in confidence. A project is for how the firm works, not for client files.
Use a business plan (Team or Enterprise) that doesn't train on your data, follow your firm's AI policy and your bar's guidance, and have an attorney approve the instructions.
Projects are on every Claude plan; the Free plan allows up to five. On Team and Enterprise you can share the project with everyone who answers intake emails.

Ways to use it after the lesson

Fee questions for every practice area on your fee schedule, not only divorce.
Consultation confirmations and reminders that repeat what to bring and what not to email.
Polite replies to people the firm can't take on, after a conflict.
A second project for existing clients, with billing and trust-account questions answered from your engagement terms.

Try it yourself, free

Reading the steps is a start. Doing them is how it sticks. The interactive module walks you through every click in a practice copy of Claude, checks each step, and never touches your real accounts.

Start “A Claude Project for Your Law Firm's Intake Desk: Fees, the Conflict Check and No Legal Advice by Email”

Frequently asked questions

Can a Claude project answer prospective clients' fee questions?: Yes, if your fee schedule is in the project's files and the instructions say to quote only from it and to say what each flat fee covers. Have an attorney approve the instructions, and read each reply before it goes out.
How do I stop Claude from giving legal advice in intake emails?: Put the rule in the project instructions: never give legal advice or predict an outcome about property, support or custody; offer a consultation instead. In the lesson, the prospective client asks whether she will keep the house and the reply offers a consultation with the attorney.
Should I upload client files to a Claude project?: No. Keep matter notes, filings and anything confidential out of it. Use the project for firm documents like the fee schedule and intake policy, on a business plan that doesn't train on your data, and follow your firm's policy on AI tools.
What does the conflict-check step look like in the reply?: The reply asks for the full names of both spouses, and nothing else about the other person, before a consultation is booked. That rule comes from the intake policy in the project.
Is this lesson free?: Yes. Stepthrough is completely free and the practice copy needs no accounts. To do it for real you need a Claude account; projects are on every plan, including Free, with limits.

Start this module free

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Free cheat sheets

Print it or save the PDF: the key steps and checks from this lesson on one page, free.

Claude Projects Cheat Sheet

A free one-page Claude Projects cheat sheet: create a project, write instructions, add files as project knowledge, chat inside it and fix rules once.

Lesson cheat sheet Free PDF

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A free one-page cheat sheet for your first Claude chat: the model picker and effort, attaching a file, a four-part prompt, follow-ups, pin and rename.