Episode Overview

Podcast: Personal Injury Mastermind w/ Chris Dreyer
Episode: 391 – Grow Intake & Unlock Revenue with AI Agents with David Ellis
Guest: David Ellis, Founder & CEO of Neto
Date: February 5, 2026

This episode focuses on the transformative role of AI agents in personal injury law firm intake and lead management. Chris Dreyer interviews David Ellis about how AI-powered agents are revolutionizing client communication, increasing signed cases (even from “dead” leads), scaling intake without increasing chaos, and unlocking significant revenue while reducing operational overhead.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Urgency of Embracing AI Agents

• Why Now Matters (01:16):
  • David stresses that AI agents will “change the world” and that firms not thinking about their strategy are “somewhat naive.”
  • The technology is advancing rapidly—"it might not be quite what you want it to be today, it might be even as quick as next week."

“It is just responsible to have a strategy and to be keeping track of what is going on with the technology.” —David Ellis (01:27)

Building “Empathetic” AI – More Than Just Human-like (03:16)

• Neto’s AI is designed to not just mimic but sometimes surpass human emotional intelligence (EQ).
• Internal and published tests show AI is now "regularly beating humans on emotional intelligence" (03:16).

“It’s a really good faker. And that’s quite frankly what we need it to do.” —David Ellis (03:25)

• AI agents can remove the “worst parts” of human interaction (judgment, fatigue, inconsistency), delivering a consistently empathetic, nonjudgmental experience.

“We asked: can we remove all the worst parts of [human conversation]? …Would that deliver an experience not just human like, but maybe even better than human like in some ways?” —David Ellis (03:42)

• AI handles sensitive calls (e.g., addiction crises) where clients may actually prefer the nonjudgmental AI over a human.

Neto’s AI Agents: How They Work (05:41)

• Core Capabilities: Inbound/outbound calling, texting, email; “simple reception duties” to “very advanced intake.”
• Functionality Includes:
  • Gathering and qualifying case information, sending the right contracts, “reasoning” about referral or acceptance decisions.
  • Real-time system updates, multi-language support, and deep integration with firm processes.
  • “It talks well enough is what I would say right now. AI is a game of compromises...” —David Ellis (06:34)

Deep Dive: Lead Chasing and Outbound Power (08:08)

• Speed to Lead: Instantly calls prospects when a web form is filled; the first to reach out gets the client.
• Persistence & Customization: AI doesn’t give up in 1-3 tries—persists up to 30–40 contact attempts if needed, adjusting timing based on learnings from client data.

"Most law firms...15 is on like the far end of how many times they're reaching out. Our AI will follow up... hunting and pecking and also learning from other data on when the best time to call." —David Ellis (08:53)

Reducing “Fall Off” & Scheduling for Retention (10:13)

• AI can schedule precise follow-up appointments (e.g., “tomorrow at 12:45”) rather than vague promises, reducing drop-off after the initial commitment.
• Flexibility to escalate high-value cases to humans or lawyers directly as required:

“The fewer [handoffs] we can have in the process, usually the better off in the customer experience.” —David Ellis (11:47)

Handling Objections & Sensitive Cases (12:25)

• When clients insist on speaking with a lawyer, the AI can handle soft rebuttals or escalate immediately based on case quality (e.g., death or commercial policy = immediate transfer).

Follow-Up Sequence Optimization (13:25)

• Dynamic, personalized voicemails and texts (“AI generates dynamic voicemail...pulling [case details] and making it very personal”).
• Adapts channel usage (text, call, voicemail, email) based on what’s effective and compliance.
• Email has a low “pull-through rate,” but text and calls are highly effective.

The “Gold in the Old”: Reviving Dead Leads (14:09; 15:05)

• Neto AI demonstrated signing 15 cases from 500 “dead” leads (after human staff had tried 15 times each):

"AI is pleasantly persistent. It just keeps going until the person tells us to go away. We're finding a lot of what we refer to...as gold in the old." —David Ellis (14:52)

• Chris Dreyer highlights the business impact:

“If your average case fee is $15,000, that's $225,000 in found revenue straight out of the garbage can.” —Chris Dreyer (15:05)

Unlocking Capacity and Identifying Fringe/Referral Cases (15:54; 16:10)

• AI can sift through high volume, identify quality cases often missed by humans, and make appropriate referrals.
• Customizable for multi-jurisdictional, multi-practice referrals (one Neto client refers 200+ partners based on AI triage).

Limitations & Ongoing Improvements (17:14)

• Human cons: limited, unpredictable, expensive capacity.
• AI cons: Not sentient, can encounter edge cases needing escalation, still not perfectly natural speech.
• Upside: “The AI we have today is the worst AI we’ll ever have. ...just imagine in six months or a year, what it’s going to be like.” —David Ellis (18:18)

Integration and Use Case Flexibility (19:22)

• Neto integrates with leading PI firm tech (Lead Docket, Litify, Filevine, Smart Advocate, Neos, DocuSign, PandaDoc, etc.).
• Use cases beyond intake: medical follow-ups, insurance company calls, local services ad response, pending more complex forms of agent automation.

Pricing & ROI (20:49)

• Onboarding: ~$5,000 (white glove)
• Agent Costs: $750/mo (reception); $1,500/mo (intake); usage-based extras
• One agent can handle 20 simultaneous calls—“it ends up being under $3,500 for the agent [full-time]...But it can handle 20 calls at one time. What human can do that?” —David Ellis (21:23)

“Bot” vs. “Agent”: Language Matters (21:41)

• Neto refuses the “bot” label; their agents can reason, execute business processes, negotiate, and are deeply skilled—not just answer basic FAQs.

“Agents are actually able to make decisions, understand and actually execute business processes. ...We build agents that actually can do stuff.” —David Ellis (21:53)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• AI Outperforms on Emotional Intelligence:

  • “AI is regularly beating humans now on emotional intelligence testing.” —David Ellis (03:16)

• On Capturing Value from Dead Leads:

  • "Last month on 500 follow ups...we got a hold of 40% of them and we signed 15 cases out of that 500." —David Ellis (14:09)
  • “That’s $225,000 in found revenue straight out of the garbage can.” —Chris Dreyer (15:05)

• About Unlimited Capacity:

  • “With AI you have unlimited capacity. That's the beautiful thing.” —David Ellis (17:28)

• On Future-Proofing:

  • “The AI we have today is the worst AI we’ll ever have.” —David Ellis (18:18)

• AI vs. ‘Bots’:

  • “Bot is a swear word in our office...We build agents that can actually do stuff...they have deep skill sets that actually blows a lot of people away.” —David Ellis (21:41)

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• Opening Framing on AI Frontlines: 00:00–01:16
• Why AI Strategy Matters Now: 01:16–01:48
• Empathy & Emotional Intelligence in AI: 03:16–05:22
• How Neto's Agents Work (Core Functions): 05:41–07:08
• Lead Chasing Logic & Persistence: 08:08–09:35
• Reducing Intake Drop-Off with Scheduling: 10:13–11:24
• Handling Intake Objections & Escalation: 12:11–13:25
• Follow-Up Sequences and Personalization: 13:25–14:06
• Real Data: Reviving Dead Leads: 14:09–15:05
• Unlocking Capacity & Referrals: 15:54–16:59
• AI’s Limits vs. Human Staff: 17:14–18:24
• Tech Stack Integrations: 19:22–19:59
• Expanding Use Cases (Medical Updates, etc.): 19:59–20:42
• Pricing and Return on Investment: 20:49–21:36
• "Bot" vs. "Agent"—Terminology Philosophy: 21:41–22:28

Conclusion

David Ellis and Chris Dreyer provided a detailed, practical roadmap for law firms eager to embrace AI as a revenue unlock and operational supercharger. Neto’s AI agents are pushing the frontier in intake—solving capacity challenges, increasing case signings (even from dead leads), and opening the door to scalable, persistent, empathetic client engagement.

For PI law firms, the clear message: AI agents aren’t just the future—they’re delivering results today. The time for strategic investment is now.

For more insights or to contact David Ellis: hello@neto.ci (22:35).