Questions to Ask a Legal Lead Vendor: A Practical Checklist

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This checklist is for managing partners, intake managers and marketing leads at personal injury and workers' comp firms. It doesn't name or rank any vendor. Use it on any call, including one with us.

1. Where do the leads come from?

The source of a lead shapes everything after it: how ready the person is to talk, what they remember filling in, and whether your consent records hold up.

• Do you run the ads yourselves, or do you buy leads from other companies and resell them?
• Which channels do you use: search, social, display, TV, radio or something else?
• Does the claimant fill in the form themselves, or does a call center fill it in for them?
• Do you use co-registration, sweepstakes or incentive offers to collect leads? If so, which ones?
• Can I see the landing page and form a claimant would see?

A vendor that generates its own leads can usually answer these without hesitation. If the answers are vague, ask again in writing.

2. Is each lead exclusive to my firm?

"Exclusive" can mean different things, so ask exactly what it covers.

• Does each lead go to one firm only, or is it sold to several firms?
• Do you ever resell, reshare or recycle a lead later, or add it to a list?
• If a lead is shared, how many firms get it, and in what order?
• Does "exclusive" apply to the lead itself, or to something else?

Shared leads can work for some firms, but you should know which one you're buying. Our guide to exclusive vs shared PI leads covers the trade-offs.

3. How is consent to contact recorded?

Your firm is the one calling and texting, so you need to be able to show how and when the person asked to be contacted.

• Does every lead come with a third-party consent record, such as a TrustedForm certificate?
• What consent language does the form show, and does it name my firm or a category of firms?
• How is the phone number checked? By SMS code, by a carrier lookup or not at all?
• How long can I access the consent record, and can I store my own copy?

Have your own counsel review the consent language for your practice. Our TrustedForm and lead verification guide explains what a certificate shows and how to read it.

4. What fields come with each lead, and how is it screened?

Screening decides which leads reach your intake team, so get specific.

• Which fields does each lead include? Ask for a written field list.
• Can I filter by state, case type, injury date, treatment status and whether the person already has a lawyer?
• Can I filter by accident type, such as truck, motorcycle or rideshare crashes, or order a single accident type?
• For workers' comp, can I screen by employment status and whether the injury was reported?
• What happens to a lead that doesn't match my filters? Is it held back, or sent anyway?

5. What happens to unqualified leads?

Every vendor sends some leads that don't work out. What matters is what the written terms say.

• Do you have a written replacement policy, and can I read it before my first paid order?
• What counts as an unqualified lead under that policy?
• How do I flag a lead, and what information do you need from me?
• Do you replace with a new lead, issue a credit, or something else?

If the policy isn't written down, treat it as not existing.

6. How do leads reach my intake team?

A good lead that sits unseen in an inbox is a wasted lead.

• Can you deliver by webhook into my CRM, or into LeadDocket, Litify or GoHighLevel?
• Can you send email and SMS alerts to my intake team as well?
• Can leads be routed to different offices or teams by state or case type?
• Can we run a test lead through the setup before the first paid order goes live?

Our lead routing and CRM delivery guide walks through each option.

7. What am I committing to?

• Is there an agency retainer or setup charge?
• Is there a minimum term or a minimum monthly order?
• How do I pause, change states or change filters?
• Who owns the lead data after delivery?
• How much notice do I need to give to stop?

Ask for the billing terms in writing, alongside the replacement policy. Our guide on how pay per lead works for law firms explains the common models.

8. How do you handle compliance and reporting?

• Do your ads and forms follow the advertising rules for attorneys in my states? Who reviews them?
• Which states do the leads come from, and can I limit leads to states where my firm is licensed?
• What reporting will I get on leads delivered, filtered out and flagged?
• Who is my contact if something goes wrong?

Your firm's own counsel and your state's attorney advertising rules have the final say on what's right for your practice.

Red flags to watch for

• Promises about case outcomes, signed cases or settlement values
• No written replacement policy, or a policy you can only hear about on the phone
• Vague answers about who else gets the lead
• No consent record, or a consent record you can't access yourself
• Pressure to sign a long term before you've seen a single lead

How Augment Leads answers these questions

Augment Leads was founded in 2022 and is trusted by over 50 law firms. We run our own motor vehicle accident and workers' comp campaigns nationwide, and you pick the states where your firm is licensed. The claimant fills in the form themselves. Every lead goes to one firm only, with a TrustedForm certificate and an SMS-verified phone number. Unqualified leads are replaced under our written replacement policy, agreed before your first paid order. We sell pay per lead, with no agency retainer and no minimum term.

Spanish-speaking MVA and workers' comp leads are also available.

Frequently asked questions

Ask us these questions

Bring this checklist to a strategy call. We'll answer every question and put the important answers in writing.

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Related: lead routing and CRM delivery for law firms, how pay per lead works for law firms.