Can a personal injury lawyer legally buy leads?

Category: Acquire · By Dylan Goodrum

Buying leads isn't the ethical problem in personal injury marketing. Buying the wrong kind of lead, from the wrong kind of seller, on the wrong kind of contract is.

Ask around and you'll hear two lazy answers. One camp says buying leads is basically illegal, so don't touch it. The other says everyone does it, so stop worrying. Both are wrong, and both cost firms money. The first leaves you waiting for referrals and a quiet phone. The second leaves you signing a contract you haven't read, with a company that talks to injured people in your name.

The rules don't say "leads good" or "leads bad". They draw a line through the arrangement: what you're paying for, what the seller says, how the seller makes contact and how the seller gets paid. This guide is about where that line sits in the rules we checked, so you can read your own contract against it. It isn't legal advice, and your state's rules are the ones that count.

Can a personal injury lawyer legally buy leads? The short answer

Often, yes, if the arrangement fits your state's rules. In the states we checked, a lawyer can pay for generating client leads, as long as the seller doesn't recommend the lawyer, the payment doesn't share fees with a non-lawyer and the seller's communications aren't misleading. What you can't do is pay someone for recommending you, split your fee with them, or let them make live contact the rules forbid.

Two state rulebooks say this in almost the same words. The Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct (the January 2022 edition we read) say, in comment 13 to Rule 7.03, "A lawyer may pay others for generating client leads, such as Internet-based client leads", as long as the lead generator does not recommend the lawyer. The Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct, in comment 5A to Rule 7.2, say a lawyer may pay others for generating client leads, "including Internet-based client leads", under the same condition.

Not every state has the same rule, and rules get amended, so treat this as a map of the questions, not a ruling. If you practise in another state, read your own state's version of the lead-generator comment and your state bar's ethics opinions before you sign anything.

Advertising is allowed. Paying for a recommendation is the problem.

The core of the rule is simple. Ohio's Rule 7.2(b) says a lawyer "shall not give anything of value to a person for recommending the lawyer’s services", with listed exceptions, and the first exception is "the reasonable costs of advertisements or communications permitted by this rule". Texas puts it in Rule 7.03(e): a lawyer shall not pay anything of value to a person not licensed to practise law "for soliciting or referring prospective clients", but the rule does not prohibit "reasonable fees for advertising and public relations services".

So the question is whether you're buying advertising or buying a recommendation. Ohio's comment defines it: a communication contains a recommendation if it "endorses or vouches for a lawyer’s credentials, abilities, competence, character, or other professional qualities". A website that collects enquiries and passes them to you looks like advertising. A company telling an injured person "we've picked the best accident lawyer for you" is a recommendation, and you're the one who paid for it.

Five questions to ask any lead seller before you sign

None of these needs a lawyer to ask. All of them can save you from a contract you'll regret.

1. What does the seller actually say to the person?

Both Texas and Ohio say a lawyer must not pay a lead generator that "states, implies, or creates a reasonable impression that it is recommending the lawyer, is making the referral without payment from the lawyer, or has analyzed a person’s legal problems when determining which lawyer should receive the referral". Read the seller's own web pages, forms and scripts. If they say "vetted", "top-rated" or "we matched you", or imply the referral is free of any payment from you, that's the wording the rules warn about.

2. How are you charged?

Look at the pricing line first. Texas Rule 5.04(a) says a lawyer or law firm "shall not share or promise to share legal fees with a non-lawyer", with narrow exceptions, and its comment 13 ties lead payments to that rule. A 2018 column from Minnesota's Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility says that when a referral company takes a share of what the client pays the lawyer, "it looks and feels like prohibited fee-sharing with a nonlawyer". A flat price per lead, or the cost of the ads themselves, is a different thing from a cut of your fee or your signed cases. Check yours against your state's rule.

3. Who contacts the injured person, and how?

Texas defines regulated contact as telephone, social media or electronic communication "initiated by a lawyer, or by a person acting on behalf of a lawyer" in a live or electronically interactive manner, and Rule 7.03(b) bars a lawyer from soliciting a non-client that way, with limited exceptions such as another lawyer or someone with a prior relationship. If the seller's call centre rings people on your behalf, it may be doing exactly what the rule describes. Ask who makes the first contact, how the contact details were obtained and what the person was told.

4. Is the seller really a referral service?

The rules treat a lawyer referral service differently from a lead generator. Ohio allows "the usual charges for a nonprofit or lawyer referral service" that meets its Rule XVI. The Minnesota article goes further: for-profit referral services could not be used ethically in Minnesota and numerous other states as of 2018, because paying for a referral and sharing fees both run into the rules. If the company holds itself out as a referral service, you're in a different part of the rulebook.

5. Who is responsible if the seller gets it wrong?

You are. Comment 13 in Texas points to Rule 5.03, which covers a lawyer's duties for the conduct of non-lawyers, and to Rule 8.04(a)(1), the duty to avoid violating the Rules through the acts of another. Ohio's comment points to Rules 5.3 and 8.4(a). "The vendor wrote the script" isn't a defence you want to test.

Legal doesn't mean worth it

Here's the part nobody selling leads wants to say: a lead that passes every one of those checks can still be a bad buy.

A bought lead is a stranger who has often asked several firms. "Exclusive" at most controls who else the seller sends that record to. It doesn't control who else the injured person phones; we made that case for roofers in buying leads versus generating your own, and it holds for law firms. What decides whether a lead is worth buying is what it costs you per signed case, and that only works if you're counting signed cases, not enquiries.

And speed matters more than the source. If a lead rings your office and nobody calls back quickly, the price you paid is wasted whatever the rules say. We covered what to check when enquiries stall in what consumer law firms should look at if inquiries aren't becoming consultations.

Try this this week: the lead-source audit

1. List every paid lead source. Include directories, web forms, call-transfer services and marketing companies that send you enquiries. Put the company name, the contract and the monthly cost next to each one.
2. Read each contract for how you're charged. Per lead, per ad click, a monthly fee, or a share of fees or signed cases. Flag anything tied to your fee for your state bar's rules.
3. Read what each seller says to the public. Screenshot the seller's pages and forms. Mark any wording that sounds like a recommendation or a free referral.
4. Find out how each seller makes first contact. Do they only collect enquiries that people submit, or do they call, text or message people on your behalf?
5. Put the cost per signed case next to each source. Add up the last 90 days of spend, count the cases that signed, and divide.
6. Ask your state bar or your ethics counsel about anything unclear. Some state bars run an ethics helpline; the Minnesota office quoted above lists one. Do it before you renew, not after.

If one source is clean and signs cases, keep it. If one is murky and doesn't sign cases, you've just found an easy saving. If you'd rather have the numbers set up for you, that's part of law firm lead generation that tracks signed cases.

Where Lead Leap's L.E.A.P. Formula™ fits

Lead Leap's L.E.A.P. Formula™ is a done-for-you digital marketing and customer acquisition system with four stages: Leverage, Engage, Acquire and Profit. The bought-lead question sits mostly in Acquire, because it's about where new cases come from and what happens next.

• Leverage: Put Your Reputation to Work. Reputation processes, useful practice-area and location content, Google Business Profile visibility where applicable and relevant search discoverability, so prospective clients can see why your firm is worth contacting.
• Engage: Turn Interest Into Calls. Clearer practice-area pages, contact options, intake forms and tracking, plus suitable Google Ads campaigns around the firm's approved practice areas and markets, with oversight of advertising claims and targeting.
• Acquire: Win the Job or the Case. Intake follow-up and client communications: connecting agreed CRM or case-management processes, scheduling and qualified follow-up while the firm stays in control of its communications and professional judgments.
• Profit: Grow Revenue You Can Plan Around. Reporting that goes beyond raw enquiries to track source, intake status, consultations and retained clients where data access and the firm's systems allow.

We don't provide legal advice, and your firm approves the messaging and workflows and stays responsible for compliance with your jurisdiction's rules. What we can do is help you rely less on bought enquiries by building your own sources and reporting what each one produces. If you want the detail, see how our law firm marketing works.

It won't promise you a number of cases. Nobody honest can. It gives you a clearer view of where cases come from, law firm marketing and intake built around retained clients, and the numbers to judge any lead source, bought or not, on signed cases.

Frequently asked questions

Can a personal injury lawyer legally buy leads?

Often, if the arrangement fits the state's rules. The Texas and Ohio rules both say a lawyer may pay others for generating client leads, including internet-based leads, as long as the lead generator does not recommend the lawyer, the payment is consistent with the rules on fee-sharing and professional independence, and the generator's communications are not misleading. Other states may differ, so check yours.

Can I pay a lead company a percentage of my fee?

That is the first thing to check against your state's rules. Texas Rule 5.04(a) says a lawyer or law firm shall not share or promise to share legal fees with a non-lawyer, with narrow exceptions, and a 2018 column from Minnesota's Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility says a referral company's cut of the fee looks and feels like prohibited fee-sharing. A flat per-lead price is a different arrangement, but read your state's rule and ask your state bar if unsure.

Is a lead generator the same as a lawyer referral service?

Not under the rules we checked. Ohio allows a lawyer to pay the usual charges of a nonprofit or lawyer referral service that meets its Rule XVI, and a 2018 column from Minnesota's Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility says for-profit referral services could not be used ethically there. A lead generator is treated separately, with conditions on recommending the lawyer, fee-sharing and communications.

Who is responsible if a lead company breaks the rules?

The lawyer can be. Texas comment 13 points to the duties for the conduct of non-lawyers and the duty to avoid violating the Rules through the acts of another, and Ohio's comment points to Rules 5.3 and 8.4(a). Read what the seller says and does before you pay.