Law firms - the long version
When the period ends, what will tell you whether it worked?
A source cannot be judged by a number that is quietly measuring something else.
For attorneys and firm administrators. Injured people should not use this page.
Reading time is about eight minutes. Nothing here quotes a price or promises a result.
The situation
Most source reporting mixes three things together: the quality of the inquiry, the speed of the response, and the standard applied when it arrived. Separated, each one is actionable. Combined, none of them are.
The separation has to be agreed before delivery, not reconstructed afterwards from memory and a spreadsheet.
What makes it work is dull: a record per inquiry, a written standard to read it against, and a review date in the diary.
Why the review usually fails
- Nobody agreed at the start what would count as working.
- Outcomes are inferred from system activity rather than confirmed by the people who signed the matters.
- Slow answering and a weak source are recorded identically, so the wrong one gets cancelled.
- Two or three memorable bad inquiries outweigh forty ordinary ones.
What gets recorded and by whom
Five things, agreed in advance, so the review reads itself.
01 - The standard
The written criteria in force during the period, including any changes and their dates.
02 - Delivery
Every inquiry, when it arrived, and whether it met the standard.
03 - Your response
Time to first contact and number of attempts, recorded alongside delivery rather than separately.
04 - Confirmed outcomes
Consultation and retention marked by your firm. Retention is a thing your staff confirm, never something inferred from an email being opened.
05 - Disputes
What was disputed, on what grounds, and how each one was settled.
Agreeing the measurement takes one conversation and makes the review at the end almost automatic.
What you keep
What you keep from this exercise
- 01
A period record
Every inquiry, its status, and its outcome, in one place.
- 02
Separated causes
Source quality and response speed measured apart, so each can be fixed on its own.
- 03
Confirmed retention figures
Marked by your staff, which is the only version worth planning against.
- 04
A defensible decision
Continue, change the criteria, or stop - with evidence for whichever you choose.
Straight answers
The questions firms ask about this
- How much work is the recording for us?
- Two marks per inquiry - consulted and retained - as they happen. Anything heavier gets abandoned by week three.
- Can you not track outcomes yourselves?
- Not honestly. Only your firm knows who signed, so retention is confirmed by you and recorded as your figure.
- What if we dispute the numbers at the end?
- Every record carries its timestamps and its status against the standard, so a dispute is read from the record rather than argued.
- Do we get the data if we stop?
- Yes. The period record is yours whether you continue or not.
Your criteria
Agree the measurement with us
Tell us your criteria and what your team can realistically record. We return a measurement plan and the review schedule.
What happens next
- 01We reply within one business day and propose a time.
- 02We draft your criteria document and send it back for corrections. Nothing is delivered until you approve it.
- 03If we can meet the standard, we quote per billable inquiry. If we cannot, we say so.
We do not sell or share what you submit here, and we do not use it for anything other than responding to your enquiry.
Or take it to a call
Thirty minutes on criteria and economics
Bring the figures this article asked for. You leave with a draft standard either way.
Criteria and Pricing Call · 30 minutes
Discuss criteria, delivery needs, and pricing for MVA and workers’ compensation inquiries, live phone transfers, signed cases, signed commercial cases, and catastrophic commercial cases. No questionnaire is required before booking.
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Next step
Decide how you will judge it before you start it
Forty-five minutes on the standard, what gets recorded, who confirms outcomes and when the review happens.