Key takeaways
- Compare vendors on cost per signed case, not cost per lead.
- Ask whether each lead is exclusive, how it was generated, and what your firm owns.
- States differ on paying for leads and referrals. Check yours.
- An owned pipeline takes longer to build but keeps the accounts, data and learning.
What does buying leads mean?
A lead vendor generates contacts, often through its own sites and ads, and sells them to law firms by the lead, by the case or by a subscription. The vendor controls the ads, the tracking and the data.
What does owning your pipeline mean?
You run your own ads and follow-up in accounts held in your firm’s name. SouthSeas Marketing builds the AI Ads Growth System this way: AI makes and tests the ads, an AI voice assistant calls each new lead within minutes, and everything lives in your firm’s accounts and keeps running if you stop working with us.
How do they compare?
| Question | Buying leads | Owning your pipeline |
|---|---|---|
| Speed to start | Often quick | Needs ads, tracking and follow-up set up first |
| Control of ads and wording | Vendor controls them | Your firm reviews and approves them |
| Who owns accounts and data | Usually the vendor | Your firm |
| Exclusivity | Varies: exclusive or shared | Leads come from your ads only |
| What you learn | Little visibility into what worked | Ad tests and lead-to-case reporting accumulate |
| Rules to check | Paying for leads, vendor wording, referrals | Your own ad wording and follow-up calls |
What do lawyer advertising rules say about lead vendors?
Every state has its own rule on paying others for client leads and recommendations. Model Rule 7.2 generally bars paying someone to recommend the lawyer, with exceptions. South Carolina’s version, as one example, says in its Comment [7] that a lawyer may pay others for generating client leads, but the generator must not recommend the lawyer or imply it is giving a referral. Other states differ. See our rules guide and ask your ethics counsel before signing a vendor agreement.
What should you ask a lead vendor?
- Is each lead exclusive to my firm? How many firms receive it?
- How are leads generated, and what does the person see before they submit?
- What is the return policy for bad leads?
- What do I own, and what do I get if I leave?
- What is my cost per signed case at similar firms? How is that measured?
- How does the vendor’s wording comply with my state’s rules?
What does it cost per signed case?
Lead price is only the first step. A cheap lead that rarely signs costs more per case than a dearer one that does. See our cost guide for the published ranges and how to work out your own.
Want this worked out for your firm? The free 20-minute growth audit looks at your ads and how new leads are handled today, and you keep the written plan. Book my free growth audit.