Merlin Qualify scores every incoming lead using your firm's criteria to decide the right next step. Merlin Engage handles the conversations that follow. When Qualify flags a lead as inconclusive or missing information, Engage steps in to have a personalized, real-time conversation across SMS, email, voice, or web chat. The two work together: Qualify identifies a lead’s fit and Engage moves it forward.

Merlin Engage is not included with a standard Lawmatics subscription. It is a separate add-on that customers can purchase based on their needs, and it requires an active Lawmatics subscription to use. The core Lawmatics platform — including CRM, intake, automation, and reporting — is fully functional without Merlin Engage.

Merlin Engage handles lead outreach and conversation on your firm's behalf. It responds the moment a lead comes in, holds real back-and-forth conversations in your firm's voice, collects missing information, books consultations, sends engagement agreements, and follows up as long as it takes to convert. It operates across SMS, email, voice, and web chat, and escalates to a firm member whenever a situation calls for human judgment.

Merlin Engage runs inside the Lawmatics platform, which is HIPAA and SOC 2 Type II compliant. The firm controls what Engage can send, when it acts on its own, and when a human reviews first. Every conversation Engage has is fully logged and available for review in the Activity Hub, so leadership always has visibility into what was said and to whom.

Merlin Engage is built to support every role involved in intake at a law firm. Attorneys receive leads that arrive with full context and the conversation already collected. Intake coordinators are freed from routine follow-up so they can focus on the leads that need a person. Office managers get a centralized view of every conversation the agent has. Marketing teams recover more of the leads they paid for. Firm leadership configures how autonomously the agent operates to match how the firm wants to work.

Merlin Engage requires Merlin Qualify. Engage relies on Qualify's evaluation of each lead to know how to proceed — what to ask, what the goal of the conversation should be, and when to hand off. Merlin Copilot is optional. When all three are used together, they form a connected AI suite: Qualify identifies your highest-value leads and sets the direction, Engage handles the personalized outreach and conversation, and Copilot ties it all together with conversational access to your firm's data and workflows.

Merlin Engage is purpose-built for law firm intake, while general-purpose AI assistants like ChatGPT are built for open-ended tasks across any subject. Engage works inside Lawmatics with your firm's live lead data, speaks in your firm's voice, and handles specific intake outcomes like booking consultations, collecting missing information, and getting engagement agreements signed. It also operates within firm-defined guardrails, so users and firms always stay in control.