Augment LeadsThe model in one paragraph
A lead company runs advertising aimed at people who've been hurt. Someone fills in a form about their accident or injury and agrees to be contacted. The lead company screens that inquiry against the criteria you set and sends it to your firm. You pay for leads that are delivered, under terms you agreed. Your intake team calls the person, and your attorneys decide whether there's a case.
How it differs from other ways firms get cases
Most PI and workers' comp firms use a mix of channels. Here's where pay per lead fits:
- Your own ads and website. You control the brand and the message, but you also carry the work: campaigns, landing pages, tracking and figuring out what works.
- An agency on a retainer. Someone else runs your ads, but you pay for the work whether or not inquiries come in, usually for a set term.
- Pay per lead. You pay for delivered inquiries that meet your criteria. You don't run the campaigns, and with some vendors there's no retainer or term.
- Live transfers and signed cases. Some vendors do more of the intake themselves. Your firm has less contact with the person before they reach you.
None of these is right for every firm. Pay per lead tends to suit firms that already have a working intake team and want more inquiries without building a marketing department.
Who does what
The lead company:
- Runs the ads and builds the campaign forms
- Captures consent and keeps a record of it
- Screens each inquiry against your criteria
- Delivers the lead to your CRM or inbox
- Handles unqualified leads under our written replacement policy
Your firm:
- Calls the person, quickly and kindly
- Runs intake and evaluates the case
- Decides whether to take it
- Follows your own state's attorney advertising and solicitation rules
The lead company shouldn't recommend attorneys, evaluate claims or give legal advice. That's your firm's work.
What's in a lead
A good lead tells your intake team enough to make a useful first call. For a motor vehicle accident lead, that usually means accident type, date, location, injury status, treatment and whether the person already has a lawyer. For a workers' comp lead, it usually means whether they were hurt at work, employment status, injury date, whether they reported it, treatment and injury details.
Every lead should also come with two things you can check: a consent record, such as a TrustedForm certificate, and a verified phone number. Read more in TrustedForm and lead verification.
What to agree in writing before your first order
Most disputes between firms and lead companies come from things nobody wrote down. Before your first paid order, get these in writing:
- Exclusivity. Does each lead go to one firm only? Is it ever resold or recycled? See exclusive vs shared PI leads.
- Screening criteria. Case types, states, accident date, existing attorney, treatment, and anything else your firm requires.
- Lead fields. Exactly what comes with each lead.
- Consent record. What's captured, and whether you get it with every lead.
- Delivery. Where leads go, how they're routed, and what happens outside your intake hours.
- Replacement policy. What counts as unqualified, how to flag it, and what happens next.
- Term and notice. Whether there's a retainer or minimum term, and how to pause or change your order.
How to judge whether it's working
Don't judge a lead source in the first few days. Give it enough leads and enough time for your intake process to play out. Then track, by source:
- How many leads your team reached
- How many became consultations
- How many became signed cases
- How many were flagged as unqualified, and why
- How long your team took to make the first call
The last one matters more than most firms expect. Intake speed and follow-up shape results from any source. Our guide to speed-to-lead and intake scripts covers that in detail.
When results are weak, look at both sides. Is the screening right? Is the lead arriving where your team actually works? Is someone calling fast, and following up more than once? A good lead company will work through that with you and adjust filters.
Red flags
- Vague answers about where leads come from
- "Exclusive" with no written definition
- No consent record, or a record you can only see "on request"
- Promises about signed cases or outcomes
- Long terms or large commitments before you've seen a single lead
How Augment Leads does pay per lead
Augment Leads has been selling exclusive MVA and workers' comp leads since 2022 and is trusted by over 50 law firms. Here's how our model works:
- Every lead is exclusive: one firm per lead, never resold. We don't sell exclusive territories.
- The claimant fills in our campaign form themselves, from our own ads.
- Every lead has a TrustedForm certificate and an SMS-verified phone number.
- Screening is built from your criteria. Leads that fail it aren't sent.
- Unqualified leads get replaced under our written replacement policy, agreed before your first paid order.
- Real-time delivery to your CRM, email, SMS alert, a lead distribution platform or a Google Sheet.
- No agency retainer and no minimum term. Start with a strategy call, then a first paid order.
The step-by-step version is on how Augment Leads works.
Spanish-speaking MVA and workers' comp leads are also available.
Frequently asked questions
What does pay per lead mean for a law firm?
Pay per lead means your firm pays for each delivered inquiry that meets criteria you agreed in advance, instead of paying an agency to run ads. The lead company runs the ads and forms, and your firm runs intake and decides which cases to take.
Is pay per lead the same as buying signed cases?
No. With pay per lead, you receive an inquiry from a person who filled in a form and agreed to be contacted. Your intake team makes the call and your attorneys decide whether there's a case. Signed-case programs are a different model.
Does pay per lead need a contract?
It depends on the vendor. Some ask for a retainer or a minimum term. Others don't. Whatever you agree, put exclusivity, screening, the consent record, delivery and the replacement policy in writing.
Who handles intake when I buy leads?
Your firm does. The lead company runs the ads, captures consent, screens the inquiry and delivers it. Your team calls the person, evaluates the case and follows your own state's rules on attorney advertising and client contact.
How long before I can judge a lead source?
Long enough for your intake process to play out on a meaningful number of leads. Track how many leads your team reached, how many became consultations and signed cases, and how quickly your team made the first call.
What happens if a lead doesn't meet my criteria?
That should be covered by a written replacement policy agreed before your first order. At Augment Leads, unqualified leads get replaced under our written replacement policy, and leads that fail your screening aren't sent in the first place.
See how it would work for your firm
Book a strategy call. Bring your states, case types, intake hours and CRM details.