The Context

Lerner and Rowe is a nationally renowned law firm focusing on personal injury claims. The firm has been referring cases out for years. But founding partner Glen Lerner said that as the cost of case acquisition “skyrockets” and the market gets more and more competitive, they realized their referral system was in many ways a missed opportunity.

With the help of Lexamica, Lerner and Rowe began treating their referrals like a business, demanding and achieving accountability, efficiency, and data-driven decisions.

The Challenge

The hardest part of referrals before Lexamica, according to Lerner, was that “there was really no way to hold the referral attorney accountable.” Getting updates on referred cases was next to impossible. No real-time data was available. Lerner said, “We fight so hard to get cases. You vet that case. You’re going through everything in the intake process to make sure you have a great case, then you move it up the system to your case manager, to your attorney. You have all this time involved in the case. And then at the end, you send it off to somebody, and it’s lights out. There’s nothing.”

Referrals were difficult to track. “Even though we had lots of money coming in from them,” Lerner said, “we had a lot of stuff that was just going out, and it was disappearing. The truth is half the time people wouldn’t pay you,” or paid only after Lerner and Rowe followed up. They had no way of making sure their client, their case, and their firm were being treated well.

Before Lexamica, running a referral operation “was like flying an airplane without radar.”

The Key

Through Lexamica, Lerner and Rowe introduced transparency, accountability, and efficiency into their referral operations.

Real-time Data: “One of the wonderful things with Lexamica has been the ability to get real-time data on your cases and track these cases, know what’s happening with your cases.” Firms on Lexamica’s platform report regularly on the status of retained cases, adding case stage updates, activity notes, and more. Lerner can now check the status of all referred cases with the click of a button.

Accountability: All that real-time data and transparency add up to one thing—accountability. Lexamica lets Lerner and Rowe make sure their referral partners are contacting the client, moving the case along, and taking care of their obligations to the client and to Lerner and Rowe. Lerner summed up: “The exciting thing about this software is for the first time in this business model, you can monetize your referrals on a consistent basis with transparency, accountability, and then in the end, payability.”

Refined Network: Moving referrals to Lexamica showed Lerner and Rowe who in their referral network was willing to be transparent about their work. Lerner says some firms in their network were resistant and didn’t want him to have data on referred cases. Those aren’t firms he wants to work with. A referral “isn’t just a hand-off. This is your money. This is your case, and you’re liable.” Lexamica allowed Lerner and Rowe to identify who was willing to be held accountable, for everyone’s benefit.

Expanded Network: Lexamica has filled gaps in Lerner and Rowe’s network, offering immediate connections with pre-vetted firms in jurisdictions where the firm didn’t have existing referral relationships. Lerner particularly appreciates the ease of making the connections: “Through this platform, you have access to attorneys in every state in the country to be able to send a case in real time. A case comes in tomorrow in Montana. Bang! Press the button. We found you an attorney that’s a solid dude, he pays out, he’s a good attorney, you get to see all his credentials, and now you’ve got that case taken care of.”

Time Savings: Instead of “twenty people tracking down data, always on top of people and never having real-time access to that data, with one button I can see the status of all those cases,” Lerner said. Updates come in without Lerner and Rowe’s team having to track them down—retaining firms are incentivized to provide regular updates, and Lexamica’s services team does the follow-up with firms that miss reporting requirements.

Revenue Predictions: Knowing the status of referred cases as they move through the litigation process gives Lerner far greater ability to predict referral revenue. “We’re not just law firms; we’re businesses. Every business needs the ability to forecast their future income stream. To be competitive and stay afloat, I need to think like a businessman. I need to use every technology, every bit of data available, to make myself as efficient and as productive as possible.” Lexamica gives Lerner and Rowe the tools and information necessary to treat referrals as a business and see a real return.