Not really. No recruiter is trying to avoid a paper trail, that's not their gig. It's a reputation based industry, there's no limited liability like with corporations.

There's three reasons:

#1: The phone call allows them to get a read on your personality by listening to your tone of voice and your attentiveness.

#2: There's a whole body of research that says building rapport etc means the deal is more likely to get over the line, basic sales.

#3: Recruiters like to talk on the phone. The primary reason people get into recruiting is that talking on the phone all day sounds like a swell time to them.