Write the replacement rules before the first lead arrives
Replacement arguments start when “invalid” was never defined. The categories, the window, and the remedy belong in writing before launch.
By Case Leads Pro4 min read
Replacement arguments start when nobody wrote down what “invalid” means. One side remembers a conversation about disconnected numbers. The other remembers a conversation about cases the attorneys did not want. Both are sure. A one-page definition, agreed before the first lead, keeps that argument from becoming the relationship.
Decide the categories first
Most disputes fall into a few buckets. Name them before launch, and say which ones earn a replacement or a credit.
- 01
Cannot be reached
Wrong number, disconnected line, or no answer after an agreed number of attempts.
- 02
Not the person who inquired
The phone belongs to someone else, or the claimant says they never asked to be contacted.
- 03
Fails a criterion you wrote
The record says they meet your screen, and the first call shows they do not.
- 04
Already represented
Only if “no current attorney” was one of your criteria. If you chose to receive those calls, they are not invalid.
Separate a bad lead from a case you declined
A claimant can meet every criterion and still be a matter your attorneys do not want. The injury is lighter than they hoped. The story is messy. Liability is thin. That is a legal judgment, and it belongs to your firm. It is not a defective lead.
The replacement policy should say this in plain words. Otherwise every declined case becomes a credit request, and the screen you wrote stops meaning anything.
Write the window and the remedy
Two more lines do most of the work. How many days after delivery can the firm flag a lead, and what do they get back: a replacement lead, or a credit? Short windows punish a team that reviews on Fridays. Open-ended windows turn last quarter’s leads into this quarter’s argument. Pick a window your intake can actually use.
Also say what the request has to include. A name, the delivery date, and the reason, matched to one of the categories you listed. “Didn’t like it” is not a category.
Put the screen and the policy in the same document
A replacement rule that floats free of the screening criteria will drift. If “medical treatment started” is required, a claimant who has not treated is invalid. If you dropped that requirement to get more volume, the same claimant is valid. The policy should point at the criteria, not at a memory of them.
Review both when you change markets or add a case type. A rule written for car accidents does not automatically fit a work injury.
Agree it before anyone is angry
The point of writing this down is that both sides can hold it when a week goes badly. Case Leads Pro agrees the definition of an invalid lead, the window, and the remedy before a workers’ compensation or personal injury campaign launches. Leads that fail the screen are not sent and not billed. That is not a guarantee that every lead becomes a signed case. Book a 20-minute call and we will draft the criteria and the replacement rules in the same conversation.
General information for law firm intake and marketing teams, not legal advice. Rules vary by state and by case.