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Personal Injury Lead Generation Glossary.
Plain-language definitions of the terms personal injury law firms meet when they evaluate third-party lead providers.
How can this help me? This glossary defines the terms personal injury law firms meet when they evaluate third-party lead providers: provider types, delivery models, contract terms, intake terms and the metrics that show whether a lead source is working. The Sanguine Legal Solutions team has written each definition in plain language without the jargon!
Jump to a term
What are the main types of lead providers?
Lead providers differ most in where their traffic comes from. These terms describe who generates the lead and how far it travels before it reaches your firm.
Lead provider
A lead provider is a company that attracts people who may have a legal claim and passes their inquiries to law firms for a fee. In personal injury, most providers focus on motor vehicle accidents.
Why it matters: "Lead provider" covers very different businesses, from companies running their own ads to resellers of other people's traffic. The label tells you nothing until you ask how the leads are made. See how to find a personal injury lead provider that fits your firm.
Third-party lead
A third-party lead is an inquiry generated by a company other than your firm, from advertising that usually doesn't carry your firm's name. The person contacted the provider, not you.
Why it matters: A third-party lead arrives with no loyalty to your firm, so it needs faster, more persistent intake than a branded call.
Lead generator
A lead generator is a lead provider that creates its own leads through its own advertising, creative and landing pages. It controls the traffic from the first click.
Why it matters: Owning the traffic gives the provider control over consent, screening and duplicates. As Anthony Bux said on Personal Injury Mastermind, when a provider has "homegrown traffic and generating your own business," he tends "to see a higher stick rate."
Lead aggregator
A lead aggregator is a lead provider that buys traffic or leads from affiliates and other marketers, then repackages and resells them to law firms. It does not control how the original inquiry was generated.
Why it matters: Aggregated leads can carry weaker consent records, duplicates and higher drop rates. Anthony's question for every provider: "how are you generating your leads? Are you an aggregator?"
Hybrid provider
A hybrid provider is a lead provider that combines its own traffic with traffic bought from others. The mix can change over time, often without the firm being told.
Why it matters: Many generators become hybrids when firms push for more volume. Ask what share of traffic is bought, and ask again after you scale.
How are personal injury leads delivered?
Delivery models decide how much intake work the provider does before your firm gets involved, and how much work is left for your team.
Delivery model
A delivery model is the format in which a lead provider hands a lead to a law firm. The three main models are web form leads, live transfer leads and signed retainer leads.
Why it matters: Each model asks something different of your intake team, so the right model depends on your hours, staffing and follow-up discipline.
Web form lead
A web form lead is an inquiry a person submits through an online form, which the provider sends to the firm's CRM or inbox. The firm makes the first call.
Why it matters: Web form leads go cold quickly. Firms should call within two to three minutes, then make three to four attempts a day for the first 72 hours.
Live transfer lead
A live transfer lead is a caller the provider's intake team has pre-qualified by phone and then transferred live to the law firm. The firm picks up a conversation already in progress.
Why it matters: A missed transfer is a lost lead. Firms need people ready to answer every transfer during the agreed hours, and should know where the provider's intake team is based.
Signed retainer lead
A signed retainer lead is a client the provider's intake team has signed to a retainer agreement with the law firm before handing them over. The provider handles marketing and intake through to signature.
Why it matters: A signature is not loyalty. Anthony's advice to firms: "You treat that signed case just like a lead." Reach the client quickly and introduce the firm properly.
Pre-qualification
Pre-qualification is the set of screening questions a provider asks before passing a lead to a firm, such as accident date, injury, fault and whether the person already has a lawyer. It is used mainly in live transfer and signed retainer models.
Why it matters: Pre-qualification is only as good as its questions and the people asking them. Ask to see the script and listen to call recordings.
What terms describe lead quality and contracts?
These terms come up in pricing conversations and provider agreements. Each one means only what the contract says it means.
Exclusive lead
An exclusive lead is a lead the provider agrees to send to only one law firm. The contract decides whether that exclusivity applies to the lead itself, a market or a period of time.
Why it matters: "Exclusive" is a contract term, not a quality guarantee. Get the definition in writing.
Shared lead
A shared lead is a lead the provider sells to more than one law firm. The firms then compete to reach and sign the same person.
Why it matters: Shared leads reward the fastest intake team and punish everyone else. Know which kind you're paying for.
Duplicate lead
A duplicate lead is a lead for a person the firm has already received, from the same provider or another source. Duplicates inflate lead counts without adding new cases.
Why it matters: Check how the provider detects duplicates and whether duplicates qualify for a credit.
Lead credit policy
A lead credit policy is the part of a provider agreement that sets which leads a firm can return for a credit or replacement, and how. It typically covers invalid contact details, duplicates and leads outside the agreed criteria.
Why it matters: The credit policy shows whether a provider can stand behind its claims. Read it before you sign, not after the first dispute.
Cherry-picking
Cherry-picking is the practice of a provider holding back its higher-value leads, such as commercial vehicle cases, and sending them to a different buyer at a higher price. It is usually done without the other firms knowing.
Why it matters: Cherry-picking quietly lowers the case tier mix of the leads you receive. Watch your tier mix by source over time.
Consent record
A consent record is the documented proof that a person agreed to be contacted, including the wording they saw, the timestamp, the source and which companies the consent covers. Both the provider and the firm should be able to produce it.
Why it matters: Consent to hear from one company is not automatically consent to hear from your firm. See what to require from providers on consent and lead data.
TCPA
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a U.S. federal law that restricts telemarketing calls and texts, including those made with autodialers or prerecorded voices, and requires consent for many of them. Its rules and interpretations change, so have your own counsel confirm what applies to your firm.
Why it matters: Lead follow-up is outbound contact, so consent and calling practices need review by counsel before you scale.
Which metrics show whether a lead source is working?
Lead volume and cost per lead are easy to report and easy to misread. These metrics follow a lead through to a case that lasts.
Want rate
Want rate is the percentage of leads from a source that meet the firm's case criteria and are worth pursuing. Leads outside the firm's case types, markets or timeframes are unwanted.
Why it matters: Want rate shows whether a provider understands your case appetite. A low want rate means you're paying to screen out the wrong leads.
Conversion rate
Conversion rate is the percentage of wanted leads that become signed cases. Some firms calculate it from all leads, so confirm which base a provider or report is using.
Why it matters: Third-party leads convert lower than branded calls, so compare a source with other third-party sources, not with your branded inbound. See why the conversion rates aren't comparable.
Cost per lead
Cost per lead is the price a firm pays a provider for each lead delivered. It varies by delivery model, market and case type.
Why it matters: Cost per lead is what you pay, not what you get. A cheap lead that never signs costs more than an expensive one that does.
Cost per signed case
Cost per signed case is the total spend on a lead source divided by the number of signed cases it produced. It is also called cost of acquisition.
Why it matters: This is the number to budget against. Read it alongside case tier mix and drop rate, not on its own.
Case tier mix
Case tier mix is the share of a source's signed cases at each level of severity, from soft-tissue injuries to fractures, serious injuries and catastrophic or commercial vehicle cases. It shows the likely value of what a source produces.
Why it matters: A small share of higher-tier cases often decides whether a campaign is worthwhile over a year. Two sources with the same cost per signed case can be worth very different amounts.
Stick rate
Stick rate is the percentage of signed cases from a source that remain active clients over time. It is the opposite of the drop rate.
Why it matters: A signed case that leaves is spend with no return. Stick rate shows whether the source and your intake are producing clients who stay.
90-day drop rate
The 90-day drop rate is the percentage of signed cases from a source that are dropped or leave the firm within 90 days of signing. It measures how many signed cases are still viable three months later.
Why it matters: Signed case counts flatter a weak source. The 90-day drop rate shows how many of those cases actually last. See how firms reduce case drop after signing.
What intake terms should personal injury firms know?
Most third-party lead programs succeed or fail in intake. These terms describe what your team has to do once a lead arrives.
Speed to lead
Speed to lead is the time between a lead arriving and the firm's first call to that person. For web form leads, the first call should go out within two to three minutes.
Why it matters: The person who filled in the form is often talking to someone else within minutes. Every minute of delay lowers the chance of a conversation.
Follow-up cadence
A follow-up cadence is the planned schedule of calls, texts and emails a firm uses to reach a lead it hasn't yet spoken to. A common starting point is three to four call attempts a day for the first 72 hours, continuing for weeks where the firm has capacity.
Why it matters: Firms that keep following up longer reach more leads. See the intake playbook for third-party leads.
After-hours intake
After-hours intake is coverage for evenings, weekends and holidays by trained intake staff who can speak for the firm and sign clients. It is different from an answering service that only takes messages.
Why it matters: An injured person who calls on a Friday night and hears nothing until Monday has often hired someone else.
Intake capacity
Intake capacity is the volume of leads a firm's intake team can work properly, at the right speed and follow-up cadence, without dropping standards. It depends on staffing, hours, systems and skills.
Why it matters: More leads than your team can work is wasted spend. Check capacity before you fund a test. See why more leads won't fix a growth problem.
Branded lead
A branded lead is an inquiry from someone who contacted your firm directly after seeing its own marketing, such as a billboard, TV ad or search listing. The person already knows your name.
Why it matters: Branded leads convert higher than third-party leads, so judging a third-party source against branded results sets it up to fail.
What terms describe choosing a lead provider?
These terms describe how a firm decides which sources to try and whether to keep them.
Case appetite
Case appetite is the set of case types, injury tiers and markets a firm wants to take on, and the ones it will turn away. It is the starting point for matching a firm with a lead source.
Why it matters: A provider can only deliver what you want if you've defined it. Write your case appetite down before you speak to providers.
Provider vetting
Provider vetting is the review of a lead provider before a firm spends money with it, covering the traffic source, business, delivery model, case focus, geography, consent approach, commercial terms and references. Vetting reduces uncertainty; it is not a certification.
Why it matters: A pitch tells you what a provider wants you to believe. Vetting checks it. See how to vet a personal injury lead provider.
Lead source test
A lead source test is a time-limited campaign with a new provider, run to measure real performance before the firm commits more budget. It needs enough spend and time to show signed cases and whether they stay signed.
Why it matters: A short, small test measures noise. See why testing lead sources one at a time costs more.
Want these numbers for your own lead sources?
Tell us which sources you're running, and we'll show you which of these measures to track first.