A Registry for the Industry

One source of truth for every retainer signed.

Dual representation costs the industry millions of dollars annually. It is not a technology problem. It is a coordination problem. Ledger is the shared registry that solves it.

Built on Tort Terminal

Foreword

Why this exists.

A claimant signs with Firm A. Weeks later, approached by a different advertiser, the same claimant signs with Firm B. Both firms now have retainers. Both have spent money working the case up. Only one will litigate. The other eats the loss.

This happens constantly. It is not fraud. It is the predictable result of an industry where every firm runs its own intake, every intake operates in isolation, and no shared record exists. The claimant does not understand what they signed. Neither firm can detect the conflict until it is too late.

The only durable fix is a shared registry. When Firm B signs a new claimant, Firm B should be able to query — in one second, with one call — whether any other participating firm has signed that claimant in the relevant window. Ledger is that registry.

§ I.

How a query works.

The Query Path

Step I

Claimant appears

→

Step II

Firm queries Ledger

→

Step III

Registry responds

Hashed identifier. No PII disclosed. Result returned in under one second.

Query by hash

Before signing, the firm sends Ledger a hashed identifier — typically phone number or email — along with the tort category. No names, no addresses, no personally identifiable information leaves the firm's control.

II.

Registry responds

Ledger returns one of three results: no prior signing on record, prior signing within the lookback window, or multiple prior signings flagged for review. The response includes the signing firm and date, nothing more.

III.

Firm decides

Armed with authoritative data, the firm proceeds, declines, or contacts the prior signing firm to coordinate. The decision is made with information, not guesswork. Every query and decision is logged.

IV.

New signing recorded

If the firm proceeds to sign, the new retainer is recorded in Ledger with timestamp, firm, and tort category. Immutable. Auditable. Available to the next firm that queries for this claimant.

§ II.

Operating principles.

Ledger is governed by four principles that cannot be compromised without compromising the registry itself.

i.

Immutability of record

Once a signing is recorded, it cannot be altered or deleted. Corrections happen through appending, not overwriting. The registry maintains a complete, auditable history. This is the only way the record remains trustworthy over time.
ii.

Hashed-only identifiers

The registry never stores raw claimant PII. Identifiers are hashed with a standard algorithm before transmission. Ledger knows there is a signing; it does not know who was signed. Firms verify matches on their side using the same hash.
iii.

Symmetric obligation

Every participating firm is both a beneficiary and a contributor. If a firm queries Ledger, the firm also records its own signings in Ledger. The registry only works when every participant plays both roles.
iv.

Operator neutrality

Ledger is operated separately from any participating firm's business interests. The operator does not litigate, does not refer cases, and does not compete with participants. The registry is infrastructure, not a venue for the operator to gain commercial advantage.

A shared record is the only fix.

Every other proposed solution to dual representation — better disclosures, stricter enforcement, claimant education — addresses the symptom. Ledger addresses the structure. When firms can verify before they sign, dual representation stops being a risk and starts being a choice.

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