The first-ever secure online marketplace for the referral of legal cases will be launched in March 2012 to help law firms maximise the opportunities from referring business to one and other.
ReferMarket™ will enable law firms to protect valued client interests and relationships while growing their business through the sale and purchase of referrals using the trusted ReferMarket™ network and marketplace, by:
- giving the best available legal advice and service to clients
- generating revenue through referring cases which fall outside the firm’s core legal expertise
- increasing practice revenues through buying in new cases that are aligned with the firm’s legal focus
- access to low-risk, pre-qualified leads that have been validated by lawyers
Referrals, whether monetised or not, have always been an integral part of a law firms business development but, until now, no consistent method or process has existed to value a referral. By using ReferMarket™, the real market value of a case is established by firms submitting sealed bids for the cases that are listed in the marketplace.
Clients are not charged any fees and unlike other, more traditional referral networks, ReferMarket™ does not charge firms to join or view cases. The cost of procuring a case through ReferMarket™ will almost always be lower than any other lead generation activities as ReferMarket™ simply takes a percentage of the final purchase price.
The reputation rating index of ReferMarket™ means that law firms referring clients and matters have the assurance that they are referring to firms with the requisite knowledge and skills to properly advise and execute the case or transaction.
Further necessary protections are in place to ensure that parties and case-specific details are dealt with anonymously until purchase or sale, so clients and their matters are never at risk from early exposure.
Furthermore, because ReferMarket™ is fully auditable, regulators can be assured of total transparency in the referral process and ReferMarket™ will ensure that it fully complies with the proposed ban on referral fees in personal injury, the details of which have still to be settled. It is expected that the ban will come into force in April 2013.
Jeremy Hill, Director of Innovators in Law and ReferMarket™ owner, says: “ReferMarket™ enables firms to focus on cases with the highest revenue potential and to refer on cases that don’t fit with the firm’s strategic direction or legal capability. By referring on, they can monetise a case that previously would have brought them nothing, whilst ensuring that the client’s needs are fulfilled.”
James Retallack, former General Counsel of Aggregate Industries and now PLC lead for high-level network nexûs professionals, says: “The market for legal services is changing and innovation will be the key. ReferMarket™ is a great concept and one that the nexûs professional network is very pleased to be working with.” Law firms will be able to instruct the nexûs professionals network directly using the ReferMarket™ platform should they require a specialist legal expert to consult on a particular client’s legal matter.
To find out more or register to participate go to: www.ReferMarket.co.uk
