Webclat / Legal
Webclat / Legal  /  use cases  /  cost per signed case

One number for cost per signed case

You have a cost-per-click number from the ad platform, a cost-per-lead number from marketing, and a signed-matter count from intake - and no single number that connects spend to an actual signed client.

Short answer

Cost per click, cost per lead, and cost per conversion all measure something upstream of what a firm actually cares about: what it cost to acquire a client who signed. Building that single number requires joining ad spend to intake dispositions to signed-matter records - three systems that, in most firms, have never spoken to each other. Once that join exists, cost per signed case becomes a number the firm can compute on demand, by campaign, practice area, or office.

The situation

You have a cost-per-click number from the ad platform, a cost-per-lead number from marketing, and a signed-matter count from intake - and no single number that connects spend to an actual signed client.

The pain

Every budget conversation ends up comparing numbers that were never designed to be compared, because they come from three systems measuring three different things at three different moments.

What we implement

We build the first-party data pipeline that joins ad spend, intake dispositions, and signed-matter records into one reconciliation - a cost-per-signed-case measurement design - so the number exists on demand instead of getting rebuilt by hand every quarter.

What you get

  • A single trusted number for cost per signed case, computable by campaign, practice area, or office.
  • Budget reallocated to what's proven to produce signed clients at the lowest real cost, not the lowest cost per lead.
  • Less quarterly manual reconciliation work for whoever currently builds this number by hand.

Illustrative: a firm relying on cost-per-lead as its main budget metric might find its true cost per signed case is several times higher for one campaign than for another that looked worse on cost-per-lead alone - illustrative scenario, not a measured result.

Common questions

Is this a one-time report or an ongoing number?

The pipeline is built to run continuously once the join is in place, not as a one-off calculation redone by hand each quarter.

What data do you need access to?

Ad platform spend exports, call and form disposition records from intake, and signed-matter counts from your case management system - no client file contents.

Know which cases your marketing actually produced.

A runtime audit of your firm's tracking: every tag, every call and intake integration, and whether the numbers your agency reports reconcile with the matters your firm opened. Evidence, not vibes.

Request an audit