Collect a client’s answers once, reuse them across the matter
Structured intake forms would let a client answer the questions a matter needs once, in a form Matter can reuse. The aim is to stop asking the same things across onboarding, document requests, application preparation, and review. A visa client might give travel history, family details, and identity information, and those answers would be available to staff instead of trapped in a one-off PDF or email thread.
Built for the case, not a generic form
A generic form builder collects answers and stops there. A practice needs forms that connect to the case, the requested documents, review, and reusable client data. That connection is the hard part, and it is why this is its own piece of work rather than a bolt-on form tool. The likely home is the client portal, where a client answers once and staff review the response before it feeds into case work.
The open question is review
The main thing still being worked out is the review flow. Staff need to see what the client answered, what changed, where each answer will be used, and whether a value should update the case record. We are exploring this, so treat it as direction rather than a commitment to a specific form builder, timeline, or data model.