Personal Injury Cases Phase 1: What is intake? Why is it important?

What do lawyers mean when they are talking about intake? It's what it sounds like. Gathering the who, what, when, where, and how of cases. Finding out who is hurt, how they are hurt, what there contact info is, coverage issues, medical bills, past medical history, and other issues. Quite frankly, you can tell a lot about a case withing a few minutes.