A new client calls your firm at 9:40 p.m. after a car accident. Or a family calls in Spanish about a visa deadline. Meanwhile, your inbox is full of news about Astra for Law, OpenAI’s new legal AI. So it is fair to ask whether it will help with that call. The short answer is no. Astra for Law is built to help lawyers research and write. It does not pick up the phone.
That difference matters for immigration and personal injury firms, because most of their cases start with a call. This guide explains what OpenAI announced, who can use it today, what it is built for, and what it leaves out. We covered the launch itself in our AI Insider news post. Here, we focus on what it means for a working firm.
What Astra for Law is (from OpenAI’s announcement)
Astra for Law is a version of OpenAI’s newest model tuned for legal work. According to OpenAI’s announcement, it pairs that model with a dedicated legal index. The index covers five kinds of sources:
- U.S. case law
- Statutes
- Regulations
- Court rules
- Administrative decisions
On top of the model, OpenAI added instructions and context for legal analysis and writing. As a result, answers come framed the way legal work needs them. They do not read like a general chatbot reply.
The benchmark result
OpenAI shared one number that explains why a legal version exists. On a legal research benchmark from Vals AI, Astra for Law answered 54% of 200 questions correctly. The general model answered 38.7% correctly. That is a gap of more than 15 points. According to OpenAI, it comes from grounding answers in legal sources instead of the open web.
A benchmark is not a guarantee, however. It measures research questions in a test setting. Your attorneys still need to check every citation and every conclusion before it reaches a client or a court.
Why a legal version matters
Until now, most firms used general AI tools and hoped for the best. Astra for Law is different, because it is built for one profession. For a small immigration or PI practice, that is a clear signal. Legal AI is moving toward tools built around legal sources, with the safeguards a confidential practice expects. We track the wider field in our guide to the best AI tools for law firms.
Who can use Astra for Law today, and what is coming next
Access is narrow at launch. OpenAI is offering Astra for Law to select firms by invitation. Those firms get it through the Trusted Access program inside ChatGPT and Codex. For now, there is no open sign-up for every firm.
Trusted Access and zero data retention
Trusted Access includes privacy safeguards such as zero data retention. For a law firm, that is not a small detail. Immigration and injury files are full of sensitive personal details. So any AI tool that touches them should be clear about what it stores. In fact, zero data retention is a good question to ask of any legal AI tool, not only this one.
The API for legal vendors
OpenAI also said an API will follow. Legal AI vendors, including Harvey and Legora, will be able to build their own products on top of it. In practice, many firms may first meet Astra for Law inside a tool they already use. They may never open it directly in ChatGPT.
If your firm is not invited today, there is no reason to panic. Instead, watch your current legal software vendors. The API route may bring similar research help to you later.
What Astra for Law is built for: research and writing
Astra for Law targets the slow, expensive parts of legal work. OpenAI describes three of them: research, analysis, and writing.
- Research. Finding the case law, statutes, regulations, court rules, and administrative decisions that bear on a question.
- Analysis. Working through those sources in a way that fits legal reasoning.
- Writing. Producing a first draft for an attorney to review, edit, and own.
The key word is “first.” Astra for Law speeds up the work. It does not sign the filing, and it does not carry the liability. Your attorneys do.
What that looks like in an immigration or PI practice
In an immigration practice, a lot of research lives in regulations and administrative decisions. In a personal injury practice, much of it lives in case law and court rules. Both source types sit inside the index OpenAI described. So both practice areas could see faster research once they get access.
Still, research is only one part of a firm’s week. The other part is getting clients in the door. And that part starts long before anyone opens a research tool.
What Astra for Law does not cover: calls, intake, and follow-ups
This is the gap most firms feel every day. Astra for Law works on legal questions once a matter exists. However, it does not answer your phone. It does not run intake. And it does not follow up with the lead who called on Friday and never heard back.
Nothing in OpenAI’s announcement describes phone answering, intake, or lead follow-up. That is not a flaw. It is simply a different job.
Why intake is the bottleneck for immigration and PI firms
Personal injury clients often call right after an accident. That can be at night or on a weekend. They are stressed, and they want to talk to someone now. If voicemail answers, many of them simply call the next firm on the list.
Immigration clients face a different pressure. Deadlines drive the call, and many callers prefer to speak Spanish. If nobody can take that call in Spanish at 8 p.m., the family keeps dialing. That is the gap a bilingual answering service is meant to close.
In both practices, the case starts with a conversation. A research tool cannot help a client who never got through.
Research tools and intake tools solve different problems
Here is the split, based only on what OpenAI announced for Astra for Law.
| Job | Astra for Law | An intake voice agent |
|---|---|---|
| Research across case law, statutes, and rules | Yes | No |
| Drafting a first version of legal writing | Yes | No |
| Answering new client calls 24/7 | Not part of the launch | Yes |
| Taking calls in English and Spanish | Not part of the launch | Yes |
| Asking intake questions and booking consultations | Not part of the launch | Yes |
| Following up with leads who went quiet | Not part of the launch | Yes |
In short, you probably need both kinds of tool. They just do not compete with each other.
Where Dapta fits: intake calls and follow-up while Astra handles research
Think of your firm as two halves. One half does the legal work. The other half brings clients in. Astra for Law is built for the first half. Dapta is built for the second.
Dapta’s intake voice agent answers your firm’s calls 24/7, in English and Spanish. It greets the caller, asks your intake questions, and books a consultation on your calendar. As a result, a new client talks to someone right away, even at 11 p.m. on a Sunday. Your team starts the morning with the consultation already booked.
You decide what the agent asks. Set it up to gather the facts and book the meeting. Then leave the legal advice to your attorneys, where it belongs.
Build your intake agent with Dapti, in plain words
Dapti is Dapta’s autonomous agent. Tell it what your business needs in plain words, and it builds and runs it for you: voice and text agents, workflows and automations, reports, and insights on your business.
If you can describe it, Dapti can build it. For example, you might type: “Answer new client calls for my personal injury firm in English and Spanish. Ask about the accident date, injuries, and insurance. Then book a consultation.”
From there, the setup is short:
- Describe the job. Write what you want in plain words, the way you would brief a new hire.
- Let Dapti read your website. It uses your site for context about your firm and practice areas.
- Get a voice agent in about a minute. Dapti builds the first version for you.
- Connect Google Calendar. It takes one button, so consultations land on a real calendar.
- Test it with a real call. Call the number yourself and hear the intake before any client does.
Talk to Dapti like you’d talk to ChatGPT or Claude, but Dapti actually builds it for you.
Follow-up that does not depend on memory
Many callers do not book on the first try. Some want to talk to a spouse first. Others are waiting on a document. Because Dapti also builds workflows and automations, follow-up can run on a schedule. It no longer depends on someone remembering a sticky note. If you want the wording, start with these immigration client follow-up scripts.
For the full picture, explore our related guides:
- How AI for law firms handles client intake
- Intake scripts for immigration lawyers
- A personal injury intake script you can adapt
- AI software for law firms, from intake to follow-up
How to evaluate legal AI tools for an immigration or PI firm
New legal AI tools will keep arriving, and Astra for Law will not be the last. So it helps to have a short set of questions ready. Use these six for any tool, whether it does research or intake.
1. Which job does it actually do?
Start with the bottleneck, not the headline. Is your problem slow research, or missed calls? Research tools and intake tools solve different problems. Buy the one that fixes the job you lose the most time or clients on.
2. What sources is it grounded in?
For a research tool, ask where the answers come from. Astra for Law’s advantage comes from its legal index. A general chatbot that searches the open web is a different product, even if the demo looks similar.
3. What does it keep from your data?
Ask every vendor about data retention. OpenAI’s Trusted Access includes zero data retention for Astra for Law. Hold other tools to a clear answer on the same question.
4. Who reviews the output?
Every AI output needs a human owner. A research draft goes to an attorney. A booked consultation goes to your intake lead. If nobody owns the review, errors slip through.
5. Does it speak your clients’ language?
For immigration firms especially, Spanish is not optional. Check whether the tool handles Spanish in real use, not just in a feature list. Then test it with a real Spanish-speaking caller.
6. How fast can you test it?
A tool you can test today beats a waitlist. With Astra for Law, most firms will wait for an invitation or a vendor update. With an intake agent, you can hear it on a real call this afternoon.
What Astra for Law may cost your firm (what is known, what is not)
OpenAI has not published pricing for Astra for Law. Access is by invitation, and the API is still to come. So any price you see quoted today is a guess, not a fact.
Here is what you can plan for instead.
- Attorney review time. Faster drafts still need a lawyer to check them. Budget that time honestly.
- Your current research tools. Decide whether a new tool would replace a subscription or sit next to it.
- The vendor route. If Astra for Law reaches you through a legal software vendor, expect that vendor to set the terms.
- The cost of unanswered calls. This one never shows up on an invoice. However, every PI or immigration caller who hangs up on voicemail is a case that may go elsewhere.
On the intake side, you do not need to wait for anything. You can create a free Dapta account, build an agent with Dapti, and test it with a real call before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
What is Astra for Law?
Astra for Law is OpenAI’s legal version of its newest model. It pairs the model with a dedicated index of U.S. case law, statutes, regulations, court rules, and administrative decisions. It is built to help with legal research, analysis, and writing.
Can my firm sign up for Astra for Law today?
Not openly, at least not yet. OpenAI is giving access to select firms by invitation through its Trusted Access program in ChatGPT and Codex. An API for legal vendors such as Harvey and Legora is set to follow.
How much does Astra for Law cost?
OpenAI has not published pricing for Astra for Law. Until it does, treat any quoted figure with caution. If you get access through a vendor, that vendor will likely set the price.
Does Astra for Law replace lawyers or paralegals?
No. It speeds up research, analysis, and writing, but attorneys still review the work and carry the responsibility. OpenAI is selling it to firms and legal vendors to build on, not to the public as a lawyer.
Can Astra for Law answer calls or run client intake?
No. OpenAI’s announcement does not describe phone answering, intake, or follow-up. For that job, firms use an intake voice agent, such as one built on Dapta, that answers calls 24/7 in English and Spanish.
How long does it take to set up an intake agent with Dapta?
Dapti can have a voice agent ready in about a minute from a plain-words description. You then connect Google Calendar with one button and test it with a real call. Most of your time goes into deciding what the agent should ask.
The bottom line on Astra for Law
Astra for Law is a real step forward for legal research and writing. However, it starts after the client is already in the door. For immigration and personal injury firms, the door is the phone. Keep Astra for Law on your watch list for research, and make sure every new client call gets answered today.
