title: The 6 dimensions every plaintiff firm should score leads on slug: six-dimensions-pi-firms-should-score-leads-on date: "2026-04-15" category: Intake author: head-of-customer dek: Stop ranking leads with a single number. Here are the six dimensions our highest-converting firms score on — and why each one independently predicts retainer-to-settlement. tags:
- Intake
- Operations
After three years of intake data across 187 firms, we can predict whether a lead will settle from the intake form alone with about 78% accuracy. The model is not magic. It is six dimensions, scored as a vector, weighted by practice area.
Why a vector beats a score
Single-number scoring hides the action. A "62" on a slip-and-fall lead and a "62" on a wrongful-death lead require completely different next steps; the first wants a quick incident-report pull, the second needs a death certificate and probate research. Vectors keep the routing transparent — the intake manager sees what is missing and can act on it the same day.
The six dimensions
1. Liability strength
Is there a clear at-fault party? "Slipped on wet floor at grocery store" with no warning sign and a security-camera angle is high; "tripped on uneven sidewalk in front of own house" is low. We score this 1–5 based on the presence of (a) a defendant with assets or insurance, (b) a witness or contemporaneous record, and (c) a defensible theory of negligence.
2. Damages magnitude
Estimated economic damages plus a multiplier estimate for non-economic. We use the historical case-mix at the firm to set the floor: a PI firm that does not work cases under $50K should auto-decline anything where the dimension scores below threshold, even if liability is bulletproof.
3. Reachability
Has the claimant returned the firm's first follow-up call? Did they confirm the appointment? This dimension predicts dropout from the lead stage to the consult stage; the firms that ship retainers fastest are the ones that double-tap the receptionist's first call within 90 minutes.
4. Statute of limitations clock
Days remaining. Anything under 60 days flips the routing into expedited mode regardless of the other dimensions; anything under 30 days gets a partner-level review the same day. The statute is the only dimension that overrides every other consideration.
5. Source quality
Where did the lead come from? Existing-client referrals convert at roughly 2.5× the rate of paid-search leads in the firms we have measured. The source dimension does not change the merits of the case but it changes the appropriate spend on intake follow-up: a referral lead deserves a senior intake manager's time; a paid-search lead deserves a fast triage and an automated nurture if it does not convert in 48 hours.
6. Conflict and prior representation
Has anyone in the firm already spoken to this claimant about a related matter? Has the defendant been represented by the firm in another case? The conflict dimension is binary in most cases but it is the dimension that turns a 0-error intake into a malpractice claim if you skip it.
Wiring this into the intake form
We ship a conditional-intake builder that captures the right fields for the right incident type, then feeds those fields into a per-firm scoring rubric. The receptionist sees the form they need to ask; the partner sees the dimension vector; the routing engine sees the rules. No part of the system depends on a single magic number.
The firms that compounded in 2025 were the ones that treated intake as a measurement system, not a sales funnel. They knew what they were tracking, they reviewed the numbers weekly, and they adjusted the dimensions per practice area as the case mix changed.
What to do this month
If your firm is still scoring leads on a 1–10 gut-feel field in your CRM:
- Pick three dimensions out of the six above and write them down for one week of leads
- Compare the dimension vectors to the leads that actually retained
- Throw out any dimension that does not predict the retainer
Once you have the three dimensions that matter, you will not go back. If you want to see how this is wired in production, book a demo and we will walk through the Intake AI routing engine on real data.