Legal assistance is fundamental to safeguarding fair, equal and meaningful access to the legal system, yet legal consumers are frustrated when they are unable to find a lawyer that can assist them on the internet.
Technology has the potential to change this and soon, you will be part of the answer.
Being part of the SimplyConvert community, means that you now have the ability to assist anyone that encounters our chatbot on over 50 topics/litigations -- and that list of topics is growing.
Assisting individuals to get immediate assistance isn’t just good for your community – it also has the potential to diversify your practice and increase referral revenue streams.
Everyone wins with diversification!
According to the Social Security Disability Administration, over 2 million people filed for social security disability in 2018 and this trend does not appear to be decreasing in 2019.
Most of those filing for disability should not need legal help with initial filings, but that doesn’t stop many disabled individuals from searching the internet to look for legal assistance. According to legal marketing tools, there are over 42,000 searches on the internet for social security lawyers each month in the United States.
Attorney advertising is partially to blame for this misunderstanding over when a disabled person should hire a lawyer. Websites designed to look like the social security administration rank very high in organic online searches. Instead of directing first time filers to the social security administration website to fill out the proper online forms, these “attorney advertising” pages tell individuals that a lawyer will call them for a free disability review.
It is no wonder disabled individuals are searching for help – the web is filled with confusion and lawyers are not helping the issue.
Before you try to help some of the 42,000 individuals looking for disability filing assistance each month, consider what it would cost for you to be part of the solution. You probably don’t have the staff to assist all of these individuals who have questions about first-time filing. And, even if you did have the staff and the desire to assist disabled individuals from the start, where do you recoup the cost of using these firm resources?
We know that if a person has not yet filed for disability, they don’t need a lawyer. And, rather than waste the first-time filer’s time on waiting for a “free evaluation” phone call, SimplyConvert's chatbot simply guides the user through the filing with a link to the proper location and tips on how to fill out the form.
Simple. Helpful.
Then what?
Here are the facts: The number of applicants awarded benefits at the initial claim level average around 28 percent nationally. That means 72% of all individuals that contact you for assistance with their first-time filing may need legal assistance later. On average, most individuals will learn they have been rejected within 3 to 6 months of their initial filing.
SimplyConvert AUTOMATICALLY revisits every first-time filer on a monthly basis starting three-months after the date they first contacted you, leaving you with social security disability clients!
Notice, we said, “clients” not “leads” – and that is what we mean.
Potential social security disability clients who use SimplyConvert are put through a series of questions (SimplyConvert Bot Criteria) to determine if they are “qualified” for assistance. This legal criteria was built by lawyers who assist individuals with social security disability appeals. If your firm has social security disability contracts set to “ON,” individuals who are “qualified for assistance” will receive a contract – and you have a potential new client.
Setting up a social security disability practice in your office might be a good diversification plan for some firms and there is plenty of helpful information by the ABA on this topic. The topic of setting up a new practice is outside the scope of this blog. But, before you set up shop, it might be helpful for you to understand that social security disability lawyers are paid $6,000 for appeals and this fee must be approved by the social security administration.
If you don’t want to set up a practice, what are your options? Your client is a valuable referral for lawyers that do have a practice set up! There are several options available for your firm:
SimplyConvert gives you the ability to help disabled individuals that find you online. We hope it also leads to a new source of revenue through referrals – let us know how it works out for your firm!
SimplyConvert gives you the cheapest way to diversify. No practice area or litigation is outside of your understanding because you just hired the smartest legal assistant ever created.