A personal injury law firm business plan has to solve one problem the other parts of starting a practice don't: cash timing. You work on contingency, you fund case costs out of pocket, and you may wait a year before the first settlement lands. So the plan is really a runway plan — startup costs, a realistic intake-to-settlement timeline, and a marketing budget aimed at the searches that produce signable cases.
Below is the structure to follow plus a first-year worked example for a solo PI attorney, so the numbers aren't abstract.
Define what you take: auto accidents, slip-and-fall, premises, dog bites, or a specialty like trucking or product liability. A focused firm markets and converts better than a generalist. Set a minimum case threshold so you don't burn time on claims too small to fund.
State your contingency structure — commonly 33% pre-suit, 40% in litigation — plus how you advance and recover case costs. Model average case value, settlement timeline, and your signed-case-to-settlement ratio. This is the heart of the plan, because it sets your runway.
Malpractice insurance, case-management software, entity and bar fees, a website, and a reserve to float case costs and living expenses for 9–12 months. PI firms fail on cash timing more than on legal skill, so size the cushion honestly.
Where signed cases will come from: local SEO and a Google Business Profile, reviews, 24/7 intake, possibly Google Ads, and an attorney-referral network. Set a target cost-per-signed-case and the marketing budget to hit your case count.
A repeatable intake script, a conflict and screening process, and a way to respond within minutes — accident victims call several firms, and the one that answers first usually signs them. Plan your staffing for that responsiveness.
Solo auto-accident PI firm in a mid-size metro. Numbers are illustrative, but the proportions are realistic.
The lesson the example makes concrete: year one is about building a pipeline you mostly haven't been paid for yet. Plan the runway for it.
If you're still in the planning stage, you don't need a marketing agency — you need a bar card, insurance, and a runway. Don't spend on lead generation before you can answer the phone and float case costs. And if you're joining an established firm, the firm's marketing already covers you. We're for the moment you hang your own shingle and need signed cases coming in from search.
When that day comes, the website and intake are where we help. See PI lawyer website design, PI lawyer marketing, PI lawyer SEO, the start-a-business guides hub, and the AI receptionist that catches after-hours accident calls.
We don't post stock testimonials. On a 15-minute call we screen-share the real dashboards behind our own businesses — live leads, rankings, and the exact page that produced each one. See the proof →
Typically $15,000 to $60,000 for a solo firm: insurance, software, a website, bar fees, and a reserve to float case costs before the first settlement.
On contingency — commonly 33% pre-suit and 40% in litigation, plus case-cost reimbursement. Revenue is lumpy because cases can take a year or more to resolve.
Mostly search now: a fast site, a strong Google Business Profile, reviews, and 24/7 intake. Referrals compound once you have results to show.
Send your firm name and city — we'll confirm your market is open and build a working demo within 48 hours. Free, no card, no commitment.
Prefer email? [email protected]