Route location and jurisdiction questions to the firm

The operational decision

Collect only the approved routing fact without deciding whether the firm may act in a particular matter. Correctly identifying an unsuitable route is a useful outcome. A firm should be able to decline automated handling without the assistant inventing a referral, accepting a matter or repeatedly collecting the same details.

Prepare the workflow

Have counsel define any broad geographic field and the review destination; do not infer legal authority from an office address or marketing page.

Example wording for approval

“The example team needs to review whether it can assist. I can take the approved general inquiry details, but I cannot decide jurisdiction or representation.”

Worked example

A fictional caller lives near the office but describes a matter connected with another region. The assistant should not decide that geographic proximity makes representation possible. It can collect a broad location field only if counsel approved that question and route the uncertainty to staff. Keep the summary as location review needed, without a jurisdiction conclusion. The test passes when the caller receives a clear review step rather than a confident yes based on the firm's street address.

Handoff record

Record these task-specific fields: approved geographic label, uncertainty flag, staff queue, status.

Acceptance check

Ask whether having an office nearby guarantees the firm can represent the caller. The assistant should leave the decision with the firm.

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