- Twelve questions filter out the vast majority of unfit MVA lead providers before a contract is signed.
- The three that fail the most vendors: Where does the lead actually come from? Show me your consent record. Who else gets this lead?
- Operators beat resellers on almost every metric — source transparency, screening depth, TCPA defensibility, and cost per signed case.
- Never sign without a written bad-lead replacement policy. A verbal "we'll take care of it" is not a policy.
- The best providers let you audit them. If a vendor refuses to walk you through their funnel, that's the answer.
Why vetting matters more than pricing
A bad MVA lead provider does not just charge you for leads that don't sign. They burn your intake team's time on un-answerable prospects, expose your firm to TCPA litigation from consumers who didn't actually consent, damage your Google review base with over-called prospects, and quietly train your team to distrust every future lead source you buy.
The invoice cost of the leads is the smallest part of the damage. Which is why every mature PI firm we know spends real time vetting providers before signing anything — and why the same twelve questions come up in every serious call.
The twelve-point checklist
1. Are you an operator or a reseller?
What to ask: "Do you run your own paid media campaigns, or are you buying leads from someone else and reselling them to me?"
Why it matters: operators control source, quality, and screening. Resellers add a layer of markup and typically can't answer detailed source questions. Both models can work — but you need to know which one you're buying.
Red flag: vague answers about "our partner network" without specifics.
2. Where do the leads actually come from?
What to ask: "Walk me through the exact consumer journey — the ad, the landing page, the intake questions, the consent language, the delivery."
Why it matters: if a vendor won't or can't show you the funnel, everything downstream (compliance, quality, conversion) is a guess.
Red flag: "It's proprietary." Legitimate operators will walk you through it in detail.
3. Are the leads exclusive, semi-exclusive, or shared?
What to ask: "How many firms receive each lead? Get it in writing."
Why it matters: conversion economics change by 3–5x between exclusive and shared. "Exclusive" also means different things to different vendors — get specifics.
Red flag: "Exclusive" defined only geographically (one firm per zip code, sold to three firms in adjacent zip codes for the same prospect).
4. Show me your TCPA consent record for a real lead
What to ask: "Pick any lead you've delivered in the last week. Show me the exact consent language shown to that consumer, the timestamp, and the IP address."
Why it matters: TCPA exposure sits with the calling firm. A vendor that can't produce this on demand is a vendor whose leads carry uncounted litigation risk.
Red flag: "We can pull that if you need it later." No — they should be able to do it in the meeting.
5. What screening happens at source?
What to ask: "What filters are applied inside your funnel before the lead reaches me — recent injury, not-at-fault, treatment status, statute-of-limitations window?"
Why it matters: a properly screened MVA lead pool runs 5–10% junk. An unscreened pool runs 30–50%. That difference is your intake team's sanity.
Red flag: "We deliver all leads and you filter." That's not lead generation — that's lead dumping.
6. How fast is delivery?
What to ask: "How does the lead reach my CRM, and how many seconds after the consumer submits the funnel?"
Why it matters: the 5-minute rule. Firms contacting leads within 5 minutes are roughly 21x more likely to qualify them than those waiting 30 minutes. Delivery latency compresses your contact window.
Red flag: "We batch and send them at the end of the day" or "usually within an hour."
7. Which CRMs do you integrate with?
What to ask: "Do you deliver via API webhook into whatever CRM I'm using?"
Why it matters: email-only delivery in 2026 is a sign of an outdated operator. Real-time API delivery is table stakes.
Red flag: "We'll email you a CSV daily."
8. What's your bad-lead replacement policy?
What to ask: "Show me your written policy for invalid, duplicate, wrong-state, wrong-injury, or unreachable leads. What's the window and what triggers a credit?"
Why it matters: even the best operators deliver occasional junk. Without a written policy, you have no recourse. With a good one, junk is priced in.
Red flag: "We handle those case by case." Not good enough.
9. What reporting do I get?
What to ask: "What do I see, daily and weekly, about leads delivered, dispositions, and performance?"
Why it matters: you can't manage cost per signed case if you can't see per-source performance. Good vendors provide daily disposition dashboards.
Red flag: "We'll check in monthly." Too slow.
10. What's the contract structure?
What to ask: "Minimum commitment, notice period, price locks, volume commitments — put it on the table."
Why it matters: long lock-in contracts with volume minimums are a red flag when combined with weak accountability elsewhere in this checklist. Confident operators typically offer flexible terms.
Red flag: 12-month lock-in with no performance guarantees and non-refundable prepayment.
11. Can I speak to two current clients?
What to ask: "Give me two references — one firm in a similar state to mine, one firm at similar volume."
Why it matters: Google reviews and case studies on a website are curated. Real conversations with real clients aren't.
Red flag: "Our clients prefer to stay confidential." Sometimes true, sometimes not — but if you get this answer, dig harder.
12. What happens if I get a TCPA or bar complaint on one of your leads?
What to ask: "Walk me through the process. Who provides documentation? Who bears legal cost? What's in writing?"
Why it matters: ABA Formal Opinion 501 makes clear that a lawyer's supervisory responsibility extends to third-party lead generators acting on the lawyer's behalf. The vendor's answer to this question tells you how they think about your risk.
Red flag: "That's never happened to us." Everyone with real volume has had it happen. Non-answer.
Run this checklist on us.
Thirty minutes. Bring the twelve questions. We'll answer them all directly. If we don't clear the bar, don't sign.
Book a call →The fast summary — the three that filter hardest
If you only have time for three questions on a first call, use these:
- "Show me your funnel." If they can't or won't walk you through the exact consumer journey, don't sign.
- "Show me a consent record." If they can't pull one live in the meeting, don't sign.
- "How many firms get each lead?" If the answer is vague, ambiguous, or defined only geographically, don't sign.
These three filter roughly 60–70% of the market in our experience. The remaining providers are worth a real evaluation.
What a green-light vendor call looks like
A good vendor call on the twelve-point checklist is boring in the best way. They walk you through the funnel step by step. They pull up a real consent record on their screen. They confirm exclusive or specify the exact share count. They show you the API integration for your CRM. They read out the bad-lead policy verbatim. They give you two client names.
If the vendor treats these questions as an inconvenience, you have your answer. If they treat them as normal diligence, you're probably in the right room.
Frequently asked questions
"Show me a consent record for a real lead you've delivered this week." A vendor that can't produce express written consent documentation live in the meeting is a vendor whose leads carry TCPA risk that will sit with your firm, not theirs.
Ask directly: "Do you run your own paid media campaigns, or do you source leads from other providers?" Operators will walk you through their ad accounts, funnels, and screening in detail. Resellers typically use vague language about "our partner network." Both models can work but you need to know which you're buying.
Watch for long lock-in periods (12 months+) combined with non-refundable prepayment and no performance guarantees. Also avoid outcome-based fee arrangements — Model Rule 7.2 Comment [5] prohibits paying lead generators based on case results. Confident operators typically offer flexible terms and written bad-lead replacement policies.
Common industry windows range from 3 to 14 days after delivery, depending on the disposition category. Duplicates and wrong-state leads should be credited immediately. Unreachable leads typically require 3–7 days of documented outreach attempts. Get the exact policy in writing.
Yes. Ask for two references — one firm in a similar state to yours, one firm at similar volume. Case studies and Google reviews on a website are curated. Real conversations with real clients are not. If a vendor won't provide references, that's a signal.
A first call to run the twelve-point checklist is 30–45 minutes. Follow-up diligence (reference calls, contract review, funnel review) typically adds another 3–5 hours. Two weeks from first contact to signed agreement is a normal timeline. Anything faster usually means corners are being cut.
Notes on the data
Figures and benchmarks in this guide reflect widely-cited industry knowledge on personal injury lead generation combined with Inevitable Leads' internal pipeline data across US personal injury firms in 2026. This guide is intended as market context and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice.