The solo DBA practitioner faces a structural challenge: the claims process is administratively intensive, every case requires sustained monitoring over months or years, and the attorney's capacity is finite. The practices that break through this ceiling are not necessarily those with the most legal talent — they are those that have most effectively separated legal work from administrative work.
Where the Time Actually Goes
A candid assessment of where attorney time goes in a typical DBA practice reveals that a substantial proportion is spent on tasks that do not require a law licence: chasing records requests, monitoring claim status, preparing routine correspondence, scheduling medical appointments, and rebuilding case context after interruptions. These are not value-added activities — they are overhead.
The Context-Switching Cost
With 30 to 50 active cases at different stages, the cognitive cost of context switching is enormous. Each time an attorney returns to a case after focusing elsewhere, significant time is spent re-establishing where the case stands. This is not a personal failing — it is a structural consequence of case volume without adequate information management.
Intake as a Leverage Point
The intake process is where many practices lose the most recoverable time. A thorough intake that captures all relevant service history, exposure history, and medical background in a structured format — rather than through informal conversations that require subsequent reconstruction — pays dividends throughout the life of the case.
The Revenue Mathematics
A solo DBA attorney handling 20 cases per year at an average settlement of $285,000 and a 15% fee generates approximately $855,000 in annual revenue. Increasing that to 30 cases — without hiring — represents approximately $427,500 in additional revenue. The question is not whether that number justifies investment in better systems. The question is why it has not happened yet.