# Contact management for lawyers Referring attorneys, opposing counsel, expert witnesses, former clients: one private, searchable list with a note on each, so the person you need three years from now is still findable. > ConnectMachine keeps a lawyer's professional network in one private, searchable place. Every card you collect becomes a clean contact carrying a note on what they practice and how you met, and everything stays private to you. Instead of cards in a drawer and names across two phones, you get one list you can search by firm, practice area, or matter, years later. A legal career accumulates people faster than any system you have for keeping them. The attorney who referred a matter in 2019, the forensic accountant who was excellent on a valuation, the opposing counsel who turned out to be reasonable and now sends you conflicts. Contact management with ConnectMachine turns that scatter into one asset. Each person becomes a clean contact in a single private list, carrying the note that makes them useful. When a matter comes in and you need an expert or a referral out, the answer is a search, not an appeal to memory. ## Why a lawyer's contacts scatter You meet useful people constantly: at CLE, at court, on the other side of a deal, at the chamber lunch you almost skipped. You collect their cards, and you mean to keep them. The problem is never meeting them. It is finding them again. A conflict comes up and you need to refer a family matter out, you know exactly the right person exists, and you cannot recall the name. - Cards in a drawer, a desk tidy, or a box in the file room. - Names half-saved across an old phone and a firm directory you left behind. - Practice areas you were sure you would remember. - No single place to search, so every referral out starts with an email to the group. ## One private list for everyone you meet Getting people in takes seconds, and nothing depends on an evening of data entry. 1. Scan a paper card with the AI scanner: it reads name, firm, title, email, and phone, and keeps the card image. 2. Or share your card by QR, link, or tap and let the other person send their details back. 3. Tag the contact by practice area, event, or matter so you can find them that way later. 4. Add a written note or a voice memo while the conversation is fresh. 5. Everyone lands in one private list, searchable from your phone. The scanner reads cards in five or more languages, so international counsel and foreign co-counsel come across cleanly too. ## A note on every referral source A name and a firm tell you nothing in three years. The context is what makes the contact worth having, and the moment to record it is right after the conversation. "Employment defence only, no plaintiff work. Sent us the Harding matter. Golf, not lunch. Owes nothing, we owe them one." That is a working note. It tells you who to call and how to open. - What they practice, and what they will not take. - Who they have referred, and who you referred to them. - Where you met and what you discussed. - Anything outstanding on either side. ## Ask instead of scrolling Once the notes exist, the AI Concierge can answer from them. Ask who referred the last three matters, or who you know that handles construction defect work, and the answer comes back with names and the context you recorded. That is the difference between a contact list and a network you can actually use under time pressure. ## Private, and stays that way Client relationships are confidential and your referral network is your own. Contacts and notes are private to you: nothing is published, nothing is shared with the person you scanned, and nothing is visible to anyone you have not chosen to share with. Export to CSV whenever you want a copy, and the data comes with you. ## Contacts that survive a move Attorneys change firms. A list that lives in your own account, rather than a firm directory you lose access to on your last day, is one you still have on the first day of the next job. ## Frequently asked questions ### How do lawyers keep track of referral sources? Each contact carries a private note on what they practice, who they have referred, and where you met. Search by firm, practice area, or matter and the right person comes back years later with the detail intact. ### Is my contact list private? Yes. Contacts and notes are private to you. Nothing is published, and the person you scanned is not notified or shown what you recorded. ### Can I search by practice area? Yes. Tag contacts by practice area or matter when you add them, then search on that. You can also ask the AI Concierge in plain language and it answers from your notes. ### What happens to my contacts if I change firms? They stay with you. The list lives in your own account rather than a firm directory, and you can export everything to CSV at any time. ### Can the whole firm share a contact list? The Team plan puts every attorney on firm-branded cards under central billing, and contacts can sync to the firm's CRM. Personal notes stay private to the attorney who wrote them. ### How many contacts can I keep? The free plan covers a working list with CSV export. Paid plans add unlimited card scanning, voice notes, and the AI Concierge across the whole network. ## Getting started with contact management Scan the cards already in your drawer, add a line to each on what they practice, and the list starts paying off the first time a conflict sends a matter out the door. ## Get started Your referral network, searchable years from now. [Create your lawyer card free](https://www.connectmachine.ai/download-app/) ## More for Lawyers - [Contact Manager App](https://www.connectmachine.ai/use-case/contact-manager.md): A contact manager app is only as good as what it helps you do next. - [AI Concierge for lawyers](https://www.connectmachine.ai/for/lawyers/ai-concierge.md): The AI Concierge answers questions about a lawyer's own network in plain language. - [Business card scanning for lawyers](https://www.connectmachine.ai/for/lawyers/business-card-scanning.md): ConnectMachine's AI scanner turns a lawyer's collected business cards into clean contacts. - [Lead capture for lawyers](https://www.connectmachine.ai/for/lawyers/lead-capture.md): ConnectMachine turns bar events, CLE seminars, and client introductions into captured leads. - [Digital business cards for lawyers](https://www.connectmachine.ai/for/lawyers.md): ConnectMachine gives lawyers a digital business card that shares practice area, direct line, and firm details by QR or link, an AI scanner that turns the cards collected at bar events and CLE conferences into clean contacts, and a private note on each person recording how you met.