The firms that grow revenue fastest aren't just getting more cases. They're increasing the sophistication of their processes to maximize case value and improve rate of resolution.
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We define high-value cases as any recovery with a fee of $100,000 or more. Our data tells a clear story: roughly 5% of our case inventory is high-value, accounting for approximately 50% of total revenue. The other 95% covers the rest.
When you look at those numbers, a strong argument emerges that you're not running one law firm. You're running two that can’t be optimized in the same way.
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High-value cases need time, attention, and your best lawyers. Regular-value cases, by contrast, should be resolved as efficiently as possible. They need lawyers who can push, and processes designed to move them quickly through litigation without getting stuck.
At Morgan & Morgan, building operational excellence around this reality has become a defining strategy.

Assembling a Firm Playbook

Goals are necessary to start a business, but they are not sufficient to grow a business.
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At Morgan & Morgan, our goal is to maximize value for our clients and provide every client with an exceptional experience in the most efficient way possible. We achieve this by building and executing against our playbook.
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A playbook is your vision transformed into a strategic guide that lays out the roles, actions, principles, and goals that shape your firm's identity and direction.
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To build one, you need to think across three pillars:

People: Everyone from your attorneys and case staff to your intake agents, receptionists, and field investigators. Who do you need on your team? What can you outsource? Map it top to bottom.


Processes: Your best practices: the specific actions and steps needed to achieve your intended outcomes.


Technology: The tools your people need to execute your processes, track whether those processes are being completed, and surface the insights to tell you what’s working and what needs to be improved.

Technology deserves special attention because it has the biggest influence on your people and processes. The right tech stack can lower hiring costs by simplifying the work and making your processes more efficient.
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The actionable starting point for any firm: define your goals in the same terms you'd use to speak to a prospective client. What's your unique value proposition? What do you promise? That answer becomes the foundation of your playbook.

Right Case, Right Lawyer

The highest-value cases need your best attorneys. Regular-value cases need lawyers focused on moving efficiently through litigation to optimize your rate of resolution.
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Rank your attorneys on a 1-2-3 scale, quarterly. Ones being your best attorneys. Every attorney gets a ranking, and rankings determine case assignment. Everyone intuitively ranks their lawyers; doing it formally just makes the process operational and consistent.

Here's what a formal attorney performance index looks like:

Track performance over time. Talk to managing partners and supervising attorneys. Review verdicts and outcomes. Build a real understanding of your attorneys' strengths, weaknesses, and case-type fit.


Make it a meritocracy: Use ranking as motivation, not just management. When attorneys are on the same compensation plan, the greatest incentive you can give a strong performer is to give them good cases.


Invest in your lawyers. The goal isn't to manage your threes. It's to get everyone to a one.


Mine your wins. When an attorney gets an exceptional result, find out how to determine how you can operationalize the case strategy.

Identify High-Value Cases Early — and Protect Them

Build in high-value indicators at intake, and keep monitoring as cases develop — a routine matter can become a significant one as facts emerge. Add a trial-worthiness flag to your case review process. A simple yes/no changes how attorneys approach their inventory.

Once cases move into litigation, score them.  Assign every confirmed high-value case a 1, 2, or 3. A regular cadence of case reviews with your attorneys does three things:

It surfaces missed opportunities. Attorneys often discover during case reviews that a deposition hasn't been taken, a demand hasn't been sent, or a case needs to be pushed along. The process creates accountability.


It forecasts revenue. When attorneys score cases and estimate timing, you can build a reliable view of the next several months. In most quarters, the aggregate projection holds even if the individual cases shift.


It keeps your high-value bucket clean. Over time, you'll build a defined pool of high-value cases with known estimated values. That pool is a major operational asset. Protect it with the right lawyers and dedicated attention.

Build a High-Value Team

Once you've identified your high-value inventory, assemble a team to provide dedicated operational support so your best people aren’t being bogged down by a massive inventory of regular value cases.
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A high-value team's job is to make sure those cases have everything they need to reach maximum value: compliance metrics are being hit, treatment is progressing appropriately, life care plans are in place with the best providers, experts are engaged, focus groups are conducted before mediation, and with the right trial team in place.

Never Set It and Forget It

The firms that grow year over year aren't the ones that built a great playbook once. They're the ones that consistently challenge and refine it.
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When your technology gives you visibility across people and processes, you can ask the questions that actually move the needle: Is everyone doing what I asked? If not, why? Is the process too cumbersome? Do they have too many cases? And if they are doing it, is it working? Is the average fee increasing? Is the client experience improving? If not, tear it apart. Figure out where the process broke down. Fix it and try again.