I read an article by by Nora Lockwood Tooher, Dolan Media newswires this morning concerning attorneys unable to collect their fees from clients....yes attorneys have collection problems, too!
The article stated that many attorneys are reluctant to sue their clients for past due fees because the suit can trigger a malpractice claim or a disciplinary complaint to the Bar Association regardless of any merit. In addition, some malpractice insurance carriers have riders in their policies prohibiting the attorney from suing their clients for past due fees.
A logical alternative is for an attorney to use a collection agency to collect those past due fees. At JP&C, we collect for several law firms and some of those attorney clients did receive complaints about their services at the Bar Association. One could argue that the complaints were frivilous, why didn't the debtor client file the complaint before the account was placed for collection?
This happens with other, non attorney clients as well. The debtor does not have the money to pay the bill so retaliates with a complaint to an appropriate regulatory agency if there is one. Even if there is no formal complaint filed, all of a sudden the bill is disputed, the first time our clients have ever been notified that their customer was unhappy with the service.
At that point, we try to find out how much the debtor does feel that they owe which allows us to at least determine if the debtor just doesn't have the money or get a settlement for our client.
You too can use that tactic with your customers who are disputing a portion of their bill and you will get payments that you might otherwise not receive.
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