What “exclusive” has to say in the contract
Every vendor says exclusive. The contract is where you find out whether one claimant can still be offered to a second firm.
By Case Leads Pro4 min read
“Exclusive” is the word every lead vendor uses. It only means something if the contract says who else can receive the same claimant, and for how long. A handshake definition falls apart the first month a partner asks why three firms called the same person.
One claimant, one firm
Exclusive means the person who just finished your screening is sent to your firm and not to anyone else. Not to another office in your market. Not to a second buyer who pays less. Not into a shared pool “just this once” when volume is thin.
Shared leads are a different product. They cost less because several firms are paying for the same conversation, and the firm that calls second is usually explaining why it called. If you are buying exclusive, the contract should say the lead is yours alone.
What to look for in the language
- 01
Who receives the record
Your firm, named. Not “a participating firm in the market.”
- 02
Who does not
No other law firm, lead buyer, or affiliate gets the same claimant from this campaign.
- 03
How long that holds
For the life of the campaign, not until the vendor decides the lead went cold.
- 04
What happens to people who fail screening
They are not sent, and they are not sold to someone with looser criteria.
The quiet ways exclusivity gets watered down
The risky clauses are the short ones. “We may work with other firms in non-overlapping ZIP codes” sounds reasonable until two of those ZIPs share a courthouse and a claimant who commutes. “Aged leads may be reassigned” sounds like housekeeping until a person you already spoke with gets a call from a competitor a week later.
Ask what happens to a lead your team marks unreachable, and what happens to a form fill that fails your screen. If either one can be offered to another firm, you are not the only buyer. That can be a fair product. It is not an exclusive one, and the price should reflect it.
Exclusivity only works if the volume fits
A contract can promise one firm and still fail in practice if the campaign produces more claimants than your intake can call. Unworked leads sit. The person fills out someone else’s form. You paid for exclusive and got a race anyway, just against the rest of the market’s ads.
That is why the first call should cover capacity as well as criteria. Exclusive delivery to a team that cannot pick up the phone is exclusive on paper.
How we use the word
Case Leads Pro sends each passing personal injury or workers’ compensation lead to one firm. It is not resold, and a lead that fails your screen is not billed and not sent. Phone numbers are SMS-verified before delivery. None of that is a promise of a signed case. If you want the definition in writing for your market, book a 20-minute call.
General information for law firm intake and marketing teams, not legal advice. Rules vary by state and by case.