The Context

For several years, Kitay Law Offices has been in serious growth mode, doubling in size to ten attorneys and a staff of over thirty carrying out their mission to “advocate for those who cannot protect themselves.” As they expanded, Kitay began getting a much higher volume of leads with a broader mix of case types than Kitay wanted to handle in-house.

After trying another attorney referral platform without success, the firm joined Lexamica’s network. They quickly found it to be the solution they needed. Thomas Pivnicny, a Kitay Managing Partner who took their intake department from one person to a six-employee operation, spoke with Lexamica to explore how the platform streamlines Kitay’s search for a good home for their leads.

The Challenge

Kitay recognized the value of sending out referrals, but the process was slow and cumbersome. Referral partners had to be individually identified and vetted, and the whole referral process took place through a series of email chains.

As volume increased, these manual systems became harder and harder to manage. Pivnicny’s team was pouring time, energy, and bandwidth into tracking down old emails, juggling documents, and following up individually with firms about referred cases. Case updates were unreliable, and update requests were often delayed or got no response. Referral payments were a similar story, frequently coming in many months after a case paid out to everyone else.

The Key

With Lexamica, Kitay’s whole referral operation moves more smoothly.

Prompt Updates and Payments — Staff now see updates as they occur. Kitay’s team knows what is going on with each case referred through Lexamica, including when cases have resolved and when to expect referral fees, in contrast to older referred cases.

More Clients Referred — Lexamica has also been invaluable in getting clients the help they need, while maximizing Kitay’s referral income. Pivnicny named Lexamica’s automated matching engine as one of the most beneficial features on the platform. It provides visibility to find interested, qualified firms in the right practice areas and jurisdictions, firms that Kitay otherwise might not know existed. The gains from this expanded network are concrete—Pivnicny calculates that in the first five months on the platform, Kitay referred out around 50% more cases than they would have without Lexamica.

Clients Helped Well — The new firms Kitay has connected with through Lexamica are the kind of firms they want to work with. Pivnicny has experienced a “natural selection” in the firms choosing to join the platform; Lexamica attracts firms that are “forward-looking, tech-savvy, and looking to grow.” On the platform, “you can more reliably expect that when that lead goes out to the network, those other law firms who are looking to receive leads will jump on that lead to make sure they contact that potential client ASAP and give him a good experience, just like you would do to your own potential clients.”

Clean, Easy Integration — Getting on the platform was straightforward, a low barrier to entry, with a “seamless” experience after the initial tech setup. And Pivnicny has seen integrating Lexamica into their systems eliminate many of the old pain points: “Our staff can do whatever they need to do without having to go back and forth through a long email chain and time delays and all that kind of thing. Lexamica has been a huge game changer for us in that respect.”

Happier Team — At the end of the day, one of the biggest upsides for Pivnicny as head of intakes is simply that his team likes their jobs more. One of his favorite things about joining Lexamica: “The intake staff is happier.”