Collecting Your Commercial Accounts: Baby Powder or Gun Powder?

I was talking to a client the other day about his accounts receivable aging report.

“It is the most painful thing to look at. My blood pressure goes through the roof every time I look at it.”

Sound familiar? Do you own a business that has aging receivables with no plan in place to collect?

Lawyers who pursue collection cases are all equipped with the same legal arsenal. There are pre-judgment and post judgment strategies available. The difference is the manner in which these remedies are pursued. We tailor our collection strategy to your business strategy.

Baby Powder

In most circumstances we understand that your collection strategy is ancillary to your sales and marketing efforts. What do I mean by this? Most customers want to pay their bills. Unfortunately cash flow or receivable/ payable mismanagement makes it impossible. The key to collecting that debt is firm but open communication from a third party- your lawyer. Your staff is often too close to the situation.

Your lawyer is an extension of you. You have likely spent a great deal of time cultivating and serving your customer. The last thing you want is a scorched earth approach that permanently ruins a relationship. In these circumstances I take a "baby powder" approach. I offer a collaborative approach to the problem with the debtor. I remove emotion from the process and focus on “win-win” results while trying to preserve your business relationship.

Gun Powder

Unfortunately, there are some debtors who do not understand anything but a kick in the teeth. I am a trial lawyer. I pursue these cases in the only place where you can achieve real leverage- the court house. I understand that time is money and that a mean letter or nasty phone call only gets you so far and often wastes valuable time.

This gun powder approach is designed to create the maximum amount of pressure in the shortest possible time.

And the earlier you start, the better.

If you are chasing a debtor, chances are good that you are not the only one in pursuit. So your best chance of getting paid depends on whether you are the first one to catch him. It's one thing to chase a debtor, it's a far different (and better) thing to catch one.

If your receivable is more than 120 days old there is a less than 50% chance you will get all of your money back. Don't wait. Start today.

Fee Structure

If your receivable is less than 120 days old and has a liquidated value in excess of $5000, we charge a 20% contingency fee.

If your receivable is greater than 120 days old and has a liquidated value in excess of $5000 we charge a 25% contingency fee.

If your receivable is unliquidated, we charge a one third contingency fee.