How to Crack the Law Firm Dam and Make That PI Money Flow
A tactical guide for medical offices to outsmart lowball offers one well-placed strategic move at a time.
“Geology is the study of pressure over time.”
This line, from the movie Force 10 From Navarone, may seem like it belongs in a science textbook. But for medical providers and office managers working in the world of personal injury (PI), it’s a powerful strategic insight—especially when it comes to getting paid what you’re owed.
In the film, an explosives expert named Miller is tasked with taking down a massive bridge that the German army plans to use for an invasion. The team doesn’t have enough explosives to destroy the bridge directly, and everyone believes the mission is doomed.
Everyone, but Miller.
Instead of attacking the bridge head-on, Miller suggests targeting a dam upstream. His plan? Place just enough explosives to crack the dam, not blow it up. His fellow soldiers are confused when the explosives detonate and nothing seems to happen. But Miller knows the secret: pressure over time. That small crack allows the relentless force of water to do the rest. Eventually, the dam collapses, the floodwaters surge, and the bridge is washed away.
It’s not just cinematic genius, it’s a masterclass in strategy.
Why You Need a Strategic Crack, not a Full-Frontal Assault
If you’ve been in the PI space for any length of time, you’ve had this conversation:
“We have to ask you to reduce your bill. The settlement doesn’t support your full charges.
We can’t even pay you half.”
Sound familiar?
Too often, medical offices respond by trying to match force with force: demanding full payment, threatening state bar action, or refusing to work with the firm again. But like trying to blow up the bridge with insufficient explosives, this direct approach often fails, especially if you lack the leverage or legal muscle to back it up.
The better approach: Find the dam. Create the crack. Let the pressure build.
Identifying Leverage: Where’s the Weak Spot in the Dam?
Most PI attorneys and their “lien specialists” staff are trained negotiators. They know how to stall, deflect, and plead poverty. But every firm, yes, even the slickest, is vulnerable somewhere. Your job is to identify where that pressure point is.
Here are a few common cracks:
- Referral Dependence: Do they rely on your clinic for consistent patient volume? That’s leverage.
- Bad Optics: Are they afraid of bad reviews and being labeled as “abusers” by failing to pay properly their clients and robbing providers? That’s leverage.
- Lien Language: Does your lien include well-written protections, interest entitlements, attorney fees, and mandated disclosures? That’s leverage.
- Case Value vs. Medical Support: Does their case fall apart without treatment, your notes or your testimony? That’s leverage.
- Did the Law Firm Mess Up: Perhaps the one most important but what most providers just don’t know—spotting and stopping the law firm fouls. That’s leverage.
Like Miller in the film, you don’t need to blow the case open. You just need to insert a strategic crack.
Apply Pressure: Smartly, Slowly, Steadily
Once you’ve identified your leverage, the next step is knowing when and how to use it and apply it. The mistake many practices make is either applying it too early (before it matters) or too emotionally (out of frustration, not calculation).
Instead, use a methodical approach:
- Document Everything: Keep airtight records of care, communications, and lien agreements. Build a foundation.
- Communicate Expectations Early: Don’t wait until settlement. Set the tone early with clear financial boundaries.
- Escalate Strategically: When reductions are requested, respond with data, precedent, and policy—not emotion.
- Protect Your Brand: Avoid threatening language that could come back to haunt you. Let professionalism be your power.
- Use a Specific Negotiations Method: Find an actual strategic method and get you or your staff trained in it, and you will find you will learn more and get paid more.
Eventually, the pressure you apply, when well-timed and well-targeted, can cause the dam to collapse. The firm concedes, the check arrives, and the problem takes care of itself.
You’re Not Alone: Experts Can Guide You
In Force 10 From Navarone, Miller didn’t detonate the dam himself. He showed others how to do it. That’s what real experts do. And in your practice, you shouldn’t have to navigate these battles alone either.
Whether it’s working with a PI-focused negotiations service (like our PI Billing Pros), finding the right coach for the team handling the law firm, (like our Business Advantage Program), or joining a training group that teaches PI negotiation tactics (like our Negotiations Training & Support Program)—your ability to leverage expert guidance makes a huge difference.
My company offers you choices, but find help wherever you can. That help and guidance and maybe even doing it for you, is the real difference maker for healers taking on warriors.
Just like in the movie, you don’t need to carry the dynamite. You just need to have the right tools, training, expert and place the leverage in the right spot at the right time.
Keep Pressuring the Dam
Here’s the truth: Most PI attorneys don’t want to be unfair. But they’ll test how much they can get away with, because that’s their job. Your job is to be a professional force that pushes back professionally, not with threats, but with precision, patience, and persistence.
One crack. One moment. One well-timed move.
That’s all it takes to shift the momentum in your favor.
Because geology, and personal injury bill recovery, is all about pressure over time.
