Law firms - the long version
Could two people at your firm write down the same definition of a good case?
If two people at the firm cannot write the same definition of a good case, no vendor can deliver one.
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
Criteria usually exist as a shared instinct rather than a document. It works inside the firm, where everyone has the same experience, and fails immediately at the boundary with anyone outside it.
Writing the standard is unglamorous and takes one sitting. It is also the point at which the firm learns which cases it disagrees with itself about.
The document that comes out is portable. It outlasts us, the current vendor, and the current advertising budget.
What an unwritten standard costs
- Two intake staff apply two different thresholds, and neither is wrong.
- Vendors cannot be held to a standard nobody has stated.
- Marginal inquiries are judged by whoever is least busy that afternoon.
- Nothing can be reviewed at the end, because there was no benchmark at the start.
How the standard gets written
Five decisions. Each one narrows what arrives and what you pay for.
01 - Geography
The states or regions you serve, and the ones you decline regardless of the facts.
02 - Injury recency and reporting
How recent the injury must be and whether it has been reported to the employer or insurer, stated as dates rather than impressions.
03 - Employment type
Employee, contractor, agency or seasonal - and what you do with each.
04 - Representation status
Whether an inquiry already represented is ever of interest, and on what terms.
05 - Your own exclusions
The specific situations your attorneys will not take, written in your words.
The criteria conversation produces the draft. You correct it until it reads like your firm.
What you keep
What you keep from this exercise
- 01
A criteria document
One page your intake staff can apply without asking anyone.
- 02
Consistency across staff
The same answer regardless of who picks up the call.
- 03
A benchmark for any vendor
Something specific to hold a source to, and to review it against.
- 04
A basis for disputes
A written test, so disagreements have an answer rather than a winner.
Straight answers
The questions firms ask about this
- How long does writing the criteria take?
- One conversation of about forty-five minutes, then a draft you correct. Most firms settle it inside a week.
- Do we have to use it with you?
- No. The document is yours regardless of what you decide afterwards.
- What if we get it wrong first time?
- Most firms do, in one or two places. Criteria are revised during the pilot and the change is recorded and applied forward.
- Will tighter criteria mean fewer inquiries?
- Usually yes, and more of them will be matters your attorneys want. That trade is yours to set.
Your criteria
Start your criteria document
Give us your geography, the matters you want and the ones you refuse. We draft the standard and send it back for correction.
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.
Book a CallBook within the next four days. The calendar opens in a new tab. Complete your booking to receive your confirmation and calendar invite.
Next step
Write it down once, apply it everywhere
Forty-five minutes with our team on geography, recency, employment type, insurance coverage, representation and exclusions.