What Is a Good Cost Per Case for a Personal Injury Firm?

You spent $50,000 last month across four lead vendors. Two of them produced signed cases. You think you know which one performed better — but you're comparing cost per lead, not cost per case. That gap is where budget decisions quietly go wrong at most PI firms.

There's no single “good” cost per case number. But there are meaningful benchmarks — and a clear framework for evaluating whether your numbers are working for yourfirm. This article covers both.

What “Cost Per Case” Actually Measures

Cost per case (CPC) is the total marketing spend required to produce one signed case. Divide your total spend on a source by the number of signed cases it produced in the same period — that's your number.

Example: $40,000 in spend with a lead vendor that produced 10 signed cases equals a $4,000 cost per case for that vendor.

Simple math, but two nuances matter:

• Time lag distorts monthly comparisons.A lead that arrives in January might not sign until March. Comparing January spend to January signings mixes two different cohorts. Accurate CPC requires tracking each lead from arrival through signing — not just dividing monthly totals.
• Not all cases are equal.A $3,000 cost per case for a soft tissue auto accident looks identical to a $3,000 cost per case for a traumatic brain injury — until you factor in settlement value. Always evaluate CPC alongside case type and expected return.

Cost Per Case Ranges by Source Type

These ranges reflect what we typically see across PI firms. Treat them as reference points, not targets — your market, case mix, and firm capacity will shift your numbers in either direction.

Google Ads (Search)

Google search ads typically produce cost per case between $2,000 and $8,000. The wide range reflects market competition, case type targeting, and landing page conversion rates.

Firms in competitive metros (Los Angeles, Houston, Miami) trend toward the high end. Mid-size markets with optimized campaigns can hit the low end. The key variable isn't click cost alone — it's how many clicks become leads, and how many of those leads sign.

Local Service Ads (LSA)

LSA cost per case typically ranges from $1,500 to $5,000. The leads carry slightly higher intent — prospects chose your firm from a Google-verified listing — which often improves conversion rates versus standard paid search.

Volume is the constraint. LSAs are hard to scale. Most firms use them as a baseline channel and layer paid search on top for additional reach.

Lead Generation Vendors (Mass Tort and PI Aggregators)

Third-party lead vendors typically land between $1,500 and $6,000per case. The spread comes down to vendor quality, exclusivity, and case type.

Exclusive leads cost more upfront but convert better — fewer firms competing for the same prospect. Shared leads are cheaper per lead but conversion rates drop, often offsetting the savings entirely.

Social Media (Facebook/Instagram Ads)

Social ads for PI tend to produce cost per case between $3,000 and $10,000. Cost per lead looks attractive — often under $50 — but conversion rates from lead to signed case are significantly lower than search-based channels.

The math illustrates why cost per lead misleads: a $30 lead that converts at 2% produces a $1,500 cost per case. The same $30 lead converting at 0.5% produces a $6,000 cost per case. Same input metric, four-times worse outcome.

Referrals and Organic

Referrals and organic inbound have the lowest cost per case — often under $500when measured against the indirect costs of maintaining a referral network or producing content. High-value, but nearly impossible to scale on demand.

Why the Same Cost Per Case Can Mean Different Things

Two vendors with identical cost per case numbers can represent completely different value. The chart above shows the gap clearly — but here's the logic:

• Vendor A:$3,000 cost per case. Average settlement: $45,000. That's a 15:1 return on marketing spend before attorney fees and costs.
• Vendor B:$3,000 cost per case. Average settlement: $15,000. That's a 5:1 return — still profitable, but a very different firm.

Cost per case tells you what you're paying. Settlement value per source tells you what you're getting. The firms with the sharpest budget decisions track both — and segment each by source.

How to Evaluate Your Own Numbers

“Is my cost per case good?” is the wrong question — too many variables affect the answer. Ask these instead:

1. How does it compare across your own vendors?

The most actionable benchmark isn't the industry average — it's your own portfolio. If Vendor A produces cases at $2,500 and Vendor B produces similar cases at $5,000, that gap is worth investigating regardless of what any published benchmark says.

2. Is it trending up or down?

A $3,000 cost per case that's climbed steadily for six months is a different problem than one that's stable. Trends tell you more than snapshots. Review monthly and assess direction quarterly.

3. What does it look like relative to case value?

A $5,000 cost per case is expensive for soft tissue auto cases settling at $15,000. It's entirely reasonable for catastrophic injury cases settling at $250,000 or more. Always evaluate cost per case in the context of what those cases actually return.

4. Are you comparing the same case types?

A vendor producing high-severity cases with long settlement timelines will look expensive versus one producing high-volume, low-severity cases. Segment by case type before drawing any conclusions across sources.

The Cost Per Lead Trap

Most PI firms still evaluate vendors primarily on cost per lead. It's the number vendors give you — but it ignores everything that happens after the lead arrives.

Consider the math: a vendor at $50 cost per lead with a 5% conversion rate produces cases at $1,000. A vendor at $100 cost per lead with a 10% conversion rate also produces cases at $1,000. But a vendor at $50 cost per lead with a 1% conversion rate produces cases at $5,000 — five times the cost, despite having the cheapest leads on the board.

Cost per lead is an input. Cost per case is the output that actually tells you whether a channel is profitable.

What “Good” Really Means

A good cost per case is one that makes economic sense for your firm — given your case mix, fee structure, operating costs, and growth goals. There's no universal number. But there is a framework:

• Start with your average fee by case type.If your average contingency fee on a motor vehicle case is $12,000, a $3,000 cost per case gives you a 4:1 return on marketing spend before overhead. That's your baseline for “good” in that category.
• Set a maximum threshold per case type.Many firms target a cost per case no higher than 20–25% of the average fee — but anchor your number to your own economics, not a rule of thumb.
• Review monthly. Trend quarterly.Monthly numbers fluctuate with lead volume and signing pace. Quarterly trends tell you whether a source is improving, deteriorating, or holding steady.

When Cost Per Case Is Hard to Calculate

If you're reading this thinking “I don't actually know my cost per case by vendor” — you're in the majority. Most PI firms track cost per lead because vendors hand you that number. Cost per case requires connecting lead data to case management data, and most firms haven't built that bridge.

At small scale, manual works: export your lead log, match it against your signed case list, divide spend by signings. At scale — 200+ leads per month across five vendors — that process becomes a significant weekly time investment. That's exactly the problem a cost per case tracking platform is built to solve. But even a manual monthly calculation beats relying on cost per lead alone.

The Bottom Line

There is no universal “good” cost per case — only numbers that work for your firm or don't. What matters is whether your cost per case, by vendor and by case type, produces a return that supports growth. The firms that grow predictably track this number consistently, compare it across sources, and make budget decisions based on what produces signed cases — not just what produces leads.