⚖️ JOHNSON LAW GROUP • 2026
The future of client-attorney relationships
We lose ~40% of clients within 2 weeks of signing a retainer. After an accident, clients sign up with Johnson Law Group hoping for guidance from their legal team, during what’s typically the worst week of their lives.
Instead intake is overwhelming, with very little attorney interaction. Confused and frustrated, clients drop us for a competitor. This eats millions in operations costs and lost compensation.
My team hypothesized that a guided portal experience could give clients an immediate connection to the firm, streamline communications and document collection, and take the burden off our operations team.
MY ROLE & IMPACT
As Product Design Lead, I led a 3-week discovery sprint to uncover client and operational pain points, define the product vision, and partner with product and engineering to prioritize the MVP. I designed and validated the experience over four weeks using a design system I had built, which cut dev time in half. The portal is projected to reduce client attrition from 40% to 15%, generating an estimated $5–8M in additional revenue, with launch planned for Q3 2026.
Contract signing seamlessly transitions into the first-impression of the portal, welcoming users to their own personalized case tracker.
Interviewing clients, attorneys and operations staff revealed 3 key challenges about the first 2 weeks:
- Introductory calls with clients are frequently missed
- Client’s aren’t given motivation or reasons to stay with the firm
- They’re asked for repeat info from multiple teammates
“For 95% of clients, it’s their first time hiring a lawyer. They just want to be heard and helped ASAP.”
OPERATIONS MANAGER, HOUSTON
Clients don’t know the process, why to trust us, or what to expect. They want reassurance—that their team is listening, that their case is moving forward—not legal details. They want human connection, not radio silence.
Clients can quickly schedule a welcome call with their case manager, a crucial early step that used to have a high failure rate.
After understanding client mindset and operations workflows, I crafted 2 principles to ensure clients were emotionally supported during the start of their journey:
Reassurance, not engagement
Instead of optimizing for usage metrics, the client experience should focus on being emotionally reassuring at every step, even if there are challenges. When the case is in a waiting period, reassurance happens by explaining what the firm is doing for the client.
Moments, not management
Clients don’t want homework or complex workflows. Instead, the experience should be bite-sized tasks that build momentum without being overbearing. This is where progressive disclosure and showing the right amount of to-dos at a time is crucial.
Guided document flow that removes a frustrating task for users and dramatically reducing ops time re-requesting and sifting through incorrect documents.
In design, unique constraints emerged about the personal injury space that led to exploration and tradeoffs.
Transparency on dates and case value
The two things a client wants to know is how long their case takes and how much they can expect to win. Despite exploring ranges, and using historical data for estimates, this direction was scrapped due to liability. Instead, I created reassurance moments explaining when the client will learn these directly from their attorney, as a motivator to continue, and a way to build communications between them and their attorney.
Waiting periods
A case may get held up by the court or a third party (e.g. the insurance company). To reduce client anxiety, I landed on a next best action card that explains what we’re waiting on and why. In testing, the transparency was well received vs. trying to simplify the language. To further help, the experience provides to do’s that give the client a sense of progress, and shows a list of what the firm is doing for them while waiting.
Clients are handled by different teammates along the process
This causes challenges with the client not knowing who to contact, how, or when. Through design, and working closely with attorneys and ops, I helped us establish a point person principle: at each moment, the client knew exactly who their main point of contact was, and all communications went to them. They could also see how the other teammates worked with this person, and the value they provided.
“Worse than a delay is not knowing why, or what’s going on. Just tell me, I can handle it.”
CLIENT, CHICAGO
To create a human connection with the client quickly, the home dashboard provides a personalized welcome video of their attorney and a direct path to their team for messaging.
The final MVP designs gave clients a lightweight experience that kept up the feeling of progress, reassurance, and connection.
Attorney video
The first impression of the client experience is a personalized video from the client’s attorney, helping to create an immediate connection early, before they meet the attorney in person. Meeting their attorney was the #1 way we learned clients connected with the firm in research.
Welcome call
If clients don’t connect with their case manager to review their case, there’s a 90% chance we’ll lose them. I designed a simple way to schedule a call, get reminders and learn how to prepare.
Next best action
A permanent piece of content, the next best action can show the next task, a reminder, or simply that everything is on track. This was well received by clients, but also attorneys, who saw it as a major way to reduce inbound calls.
Document guidance and batching
Working closely with ops stakeholders helped us identify business logic, which I turned into guided flows to help clients identify the right document, and upload it correctly on the first try. Asking clients to re-upload documents accounts for ~20% of ops time.
No more black box process: the real-time case status does the heavy lifting of communicating updates, value propositions, and key moments clients care about—like when they find out case value.
Drop-off is expected to reduce from 40% down to ~15% through tackling intake challenges, which we estimate will lead to $5-8M in new revenue from settlements and fees.
We also estimate about 60% less inbound calls due to strategically placed information, timelines, FAQs, document guidance and other elements that answer clients’ questions and deflect them from having to contact their team.
We hypothesize a very successful first launch because of a previous client portal product we launched in the UK for group litigations (e.g. data breaches). Like our UK clients, we assume about 85% of users will primarily access it through their mobile device, and be highly receptive to email and SMS reminders. That means about 65% of clients will complete tasks with just a single reminder, and that number increase with each new reminder.
The design system, previously used on the redesign of the Johnson Law Group website, easily helped put together final designs and prototypes with users, cutting design time down by about 40%, and making them 2x faster to implement.
Want to learn more?
This are just some of the details about this project. Please reach out if you’d like to know more, and I’d be happy to chat or present a case study.
jfchiappone@gmail.com
Next project
⚖️ JOHNSON LAW GROUP • 2026
Turning .com into a marketing machine
⚖️ JOHNSON LAW GROUP • 2026
The future of client-attorney relationships
We lose ~40% of clients within 2 weeks of signing a retainer. After an accident, clients sign up with Johnson Law Group hoping for guidance from their legal team, during what’s typically the worst week of their lives.
Instead intake is overwhelming, with very little attorney interaction. Confused and frustrated, clients drop us for a competitor. This eats millions in operations costs and lost compensation.
My team hypothesized that a guided portal experience could give clients an immediate connection to the firm, streamline communications and document collection, and take the burden off our operations team.
MY ROLE & IMPACT
As Product Design Lead, I led a 3-week discovery sprint to uncover client and operational pain points, define the product vision, and partner with product and engineering to prioritize the MVP. I designed and validated the experience over four weeks using a design system I had built, which cut dev time in half. The portal is projected to reduce client attrition from 40% to 15%, generating an estimated $5–8M in additional revenue, with launch planned for Q3 2026.
Contract signing seamlessly transitions into the first-impression of the portal, welcoming users to their own personalized case tracker.
Interviewing clients, attorneys and operations staff revealed 3 key challenges about the first 2 weeks:
- Introductory calls with clients are frequently missed
- Client’s aren’t given motivation or reasons to stay with the firm
- They’re asked for repeat info from multiple teammates
“For 95% of clients, it’s their first time hiring a lawyer. They just want to be heard and helped ASAP.”
OPERATIONS MANAGER, HOUSTON
Clients don’t know the process, why to trust us, or what to expect. They want reassurance—that their team is listening, that their case is moving forward—not legal details. They want human connection, not radio silence.
Clients can quickly schedule a welcome call with their case manager, a crucial early step that used to have a high failure rate.
After understanding client mindset and operations workflows, I crafted 2 principles to ensure clients were emotionally supported during the start of their journey:
Reassurance, not engagement
Instead of optimizing for usage metrics, the client experience should focus on being emotionally reassuring at every step, even if there are challenges. When the case is in a waiting period, reassurance happens by explaining what the firm is doing for the client.
Moments, not management
Clients don’t want homework or complex workflows. Instead, the experience should be bite-sized tasks that build momentum without being overbearing. This is where progressive disclosure and showing the right amount of to-dos at a time is crucial.
Guided document flow that removes a frustrating task for users and dramatically reducing ops time re-requesting and sifting through incorrect documents.
In design, unique constraints emerged about the personal injury space that led to exploration and tradeoffs.
Transparency on dates and case value
The two things a client wants to know is how long their case takes and how much they can expect to win. Despite exploring ranges, and using historical data for estimates, this direction was scrapped due to liability. Instead, I created reassurance moments explaining when the client will learn these directly from their attorney, as a motivator to continue, and a way to build communications between them and their attorney.
Waiting periods
A case may get held up by the court or a third party (e.g. the insurance company). To reduce client anxiety, I landed on a next best action card that explains what we’re waiting on and why. In testing, the transparency was well received vs. trying to simplify the language. To further help, the experience provides to do’s that give the client a sense of progress, and shows a list of what the firm is doing for them while waiting.
Clients are handled by different teammates along the process
This causes challenges with the client not knowing who to contact, how, or when. Through design, and working closely with attorneys and ops, I helped us establish a point person principle: at each moment, the client knew exactly who their main point of contact was, and all communications went to them. They could also see how the other teammates worked with this person, and the value they provided.
“Worse than a delay is not knowing why, or what’s going on. Just tell me, I can handle it.”
CLIENT, CHICAGO
To create a human connection with the client quickly, the home dashboard provides a personalized welcome video of their attorney and a direct path to their team for messaging.
The final MVP designs gave clients a lightweight experience that kept up the feeling of progress, reassurance, and connection.
Attorney video
The first impression of the client experience is a personalized video from the client’s attorney, helping to create an immediate connection early, before they meet the attorney in person. Meeting their attorney was the #1 way we learned clients connected with the firm in research.
Welcome call
If clients don’t connect with their case manager to review their case, there’s a 90% chance we’ll lose them. I designed a simple way to schedule a call, get reminders and learn how to prepare.
Next best action
A permanent piece of content, the next best action can show the next task, a reminder, or simply that everything is on track. This was well received by clients, but also attorneys, who saw it as a major way to reduce inbound calls.
Document guidance and batching
Working closely with ops stakeholders helped us identify business logic, which I turned into guided flows to help clients identify the right document, and upload it correctly on the first try. Asking clients to re-upload documents accounts for ~20% of ops time.
No more black box process: the real-time case status does the heavy lifting of communicating updates, value propositions, and key moments clients care about—like when they find out case value.
Drop-off is expected to reduce from 40% down to ~15% through tackling intake challenges, which we estimate will lead to $5-8M in new revenue from settlements and fees.
We also estimate about 60% less inbound calls due to strategically placed information, timelines, FAQs, document guidance and other elements that answer clients’ questions and deflect them from having to contact their team.
We hypothesize a very successful first launch because of a previous client portal product we launched in the UK for group litigations (e.g. data breaches). Like our UK clients, we assume about 85% of users will primarily access it through their mobile device, and be highly receptive to email and SMS reminders. That means about 65% of clients will complete tasks with just a single reminder, and that number increase with each new reminder.
The design system, previously used on the redesign of the Johnson Law Group website, easily helped put together final designs and prototypes with users, cutting design time down by about 40%, and making them 2x faster to implement.
Want to learn more?
This are just some of the details about this project. Please reach out if you’d like to know more, and I’d be happy to chat or present a case study.
jfchiappone@gmail.com
Next project
⚖️ JOHNSON LAW GROUP • 2026
Turning .com into a marketing machine
⚖️ JOHNSON LAW GROUP • 2026
The future of client-attorney relationships
We lose ~40% of clients within 2 weeks of signing a retainer. After an accident, clients sign up with Johnson Law Group hoping for guidance from their legal team, during what’s typically the worst week of their lives.
Instead intake is overwhelming, with very little attorney interaction. Confused and frustrated, clients drop us for a competitor. This eats millions in operations costs and lost compensation.
My team hypothesized that a guided portal experience could give clients an immediate connection to the firm, streamline communications and document collection, and take the burden off our operations team.
MY ROLE & IMPACT
As Product Design Lead, I led a 3-week discovery sprint to uncover client and operational pain points, define the product vision, and partner with product and engineering to prioritize the MVP. I designed and validated the experience over four weeks using a design system I had built, which cut dev time in half. The portal is projected to reduce client attrition from 40% to 15%, generating an estimated $5–8M in additional revenue, with launch planned for Q3 2026.
Contract signing seamlessly transitions into the first-impression of the portal, welcoming users to their own personalized case tracker.
Interviewing clients, attorneys and operations staff revealed 3 key challenges about the first 2 weeks:
- Introductory calls with clients are frequently missed
- Client’s aren’t given motivation or reasons to stay with the firm
- They’re asked for repeat info from multiple teammates
“For 95% of clients, it’s their first time hiring a lawyer. They just want to be heard and helped ASAP.”
OPERATIONS MANAGER, HOUSTON
Clients don’t know the process, why to trust us, or what to expect. They want reassurance—that their team is listening, that their case is moving forward—not legal details. They want human connection, not radio silence.
Clients can quickly schedule a welcome call with their case manager, a crucial early step that used to have a high failure rate.
After understanding client mindset and operations workflows, I crafted 2 principles to ensure clients were emotionally supported during the start of their journey:
Reassurance, not engagement
Instead of optimizing for usage metrics, the client experience should focus on being emotionally reassuring at every step, even if there are challenges. When the case is in a waiting period, reassurance happens by explaining what the firm is doing for the client.
Moments, not management
Clients don’t want homework or complex workflows. Instead, the experience should be bite-sized tasks that build momentum without being overbearing. This is where progressive disclosure and showing the right amount of to-dos at a time is crucial.
Guided document flow that removes a frustrating task for users and dramatically reducing ops time re-requesting and sifting through incorrect documents.
In design, unique constraints emerged about the personal injury space that led to exploration and tradeoffs.
Transparency on dates and case value
The two things a client wants to know is how long their case takes and how much they can expect to win. Despite exploring ranges, and using historical data for estimates, this direction was scrapped due to liability. Instead, I created reassurance moments explaining when the client will learn these directly from their attorney, as a motivator to continue, and a way to build communications between them and their attorney.
Waiting periods
A case may get held up by the court or a third party (e.g. the insurance company). To reduce client anxiety, I landed on a next best action card that explains what we’re waiting on and why. In testing, the transparency was well received vs. trying to simplify the language. To further help, the experience provides to do’s that give the client a sense of progress, and shows a list of what the firm is doing for them while waiting.
Clients are handled by different teammates along the process
This causes challenges with the client not knowing who to contact, how, or when. Through design, and working closely with attorneys and ops, I helped us establish a point person principle: at each moment, the client knew exactly who their main point of contact was, and all communications went to them. They could also see how the other teammates worked with this person, and the value they provided.
“Worse than a delay is not knowing why, or what’s going on. Just tell me, I can handle it.”
CLIENT, CHICAGO
To create a human connection with the client quickly, the home dashboard provides a personalized welcome video of their attorney and a direct path to their team for messaging.
The final MVP designs gave clients a lightweight experience that kept up the feeling of progress, reassurance, and connection.
Attorney video
The first impression of the client experience is a personalized video from the client’s attorney, helping to create an immediate connection early, before they meet the attorney in person. Meeting their attorney was the #1 way we learned clients connected with the firm in research.
Welcome call
If clients don’t connect with their case manager to review their case, there’s a 90% chance we’ll lose them. I designed a simple way to schedule a call, get reminders and learn how to prepare.
Next best action
A permanent piece of content, the next best action can show the next task, a reminder, or simply that everything is on track. This was well received by clients, but also attorneys, who saw it as a major way to reduce inbound calls.
Document guidance and batching
Working closely with ops stakeholders helped us identify business logic, which I turned into guided flows to help clients identify the right document, and upload it correctly on the first try. Asking clients to re-upload documents accounts for ~20% of ops time.
No more black boxes: the real-time case status takes the burden off ops to communicate updates, value propositions, and key moments clients care about—like when they find out case value.
Drop-off is expected to reduce from 40% down to ~15% through tackling intake challenges, which we estimate will lead to $5-8M in new revenue from settlements and fees.
We also estimate about 60% less inbound calls due to strategically placed information, timelines, FAQs, document guidance and other elements that answer clients’ questions and deflect them from having to contact their team.
We hypothesize a very successful first launch because of a previous client portal product we launched in the UK for group litigations (e.g. data breaches). Like our UK clients, we assume about 85% of users will primarily access it through their mobile device, and be highly receptive to email and SMS reminders. That means about 65% of clients will complete tasks with just a single reminder, and that number increase with each new reminder.
The design system, previously used on the redesign of the Johnson Law Group website, easily helped put together final designs and prototypes with users, cutting design time down by about 40%, and making them 2x faster to implement.
Want to learn more?
This are just some of the details about this project. Please reach out if you’d like to know more, and I’d be happy to chat or present a case study.
jfchiappone@gmail.com
