Compliance, Tutorial

Using Microsoft Forms to Collect Conflict Checks for New Clients

Posted on by Jeff Kirksey
15
Apr

Law firms must perform conflict checks before accepting new clients or matters. Microsoft Forms provides a secure, structured, and easily accessible way for attorneys and intake staff to submit potential conflict data to the conflicts team or designated attorneys. Paired with Microsoft Lists or Excel, this ensures consistent review and archiving.

This tutorial shows how to build a conflict check request form, integrate with Microsoft 365 workflows, and automate intake documentation.

Step-by-Step Guide: Creating a Conflict Check Form in Microsoft Forms

Step 1: Create the Form

  1. Go to https://forms.microsoft.com and click New Form.
  2. Title your form: “Conflict Check Request”.
  3. Add the following questions:
    • Your Name (Text)
    • Date (Date Picker)
    • Client Name (Text)
    • Related Parties / Adverse Parties (Long Text)
    • Practice Area (Choice: Litigation, Corporate, Tax, Real Estate, etc.)
    • Description of Matter (Long Text)
    • Urgency Level (Choice: Normal, Urgent)
    • Attachments Link (Optional – provide instructions for SharePoint uploads)

📝 Compliance Tip: Be sure to include instructions not to accept work before clearance is complete.

Step 2: Share the Form with Attorneys

  1. Click Share > Only people in my organization can respond.
  2. Copy the form link or embed it in your firm’s Teams General channel, intranet, or Intake SharePoint site.

🔗 Efficiency Tip: Add the form link to attorney intake templates or new matter checklists.

Step 3: Connect Responses to Excel or Microsoft Lists

  1. Click Responses > Open in Excel to create a real-time tracking sheet.
  2. Save the Excel file to SharePoint or OneDrive for access by conflicts staff.
  3. Optionally, export form responses to a Microsoft List for richer filtering and alert automation.

📊 Legal Ops Tip: Store all conflict submissions in a centralized, searchable format.

Step 4: Automate Notifications Using Power Automate

  1. Go to https://flow.microsoft.com.
  2. Create a new automated cloud flow triggered by:
    • “When a new response is submitted” in Microsoft Forms.
  3. Add steps:

🔔 Risk Management Tip: Automatically escalate high urgency submissions to senior partners.

Step 5: Audit and Report Conflict Checks

  1. Use Excel filters or List views to review submissions by:
    • Attorney
    • Date
    • Practice Area
  2. Export monthly reports for risk committee or partner meetings.

📁 Recordkeeping Tip: Retain completed conflict checks as part of new matter documentation.

Conclusion

Microsoft Forms enables law firms to standardize and digitize conflict checks, improving intake speed while reducing ethical risks. With integration into Power Automate and Microsoft Lists, the entire process becomes a part of your legal workflow ecosystem.