The man who never has money enough to pay his debts has too much of something else.

The post-COVID Elephant in the room.

The question these days is what should happen when a Government Agency's or a financial institution's internal failures result in their inability to pay their vendors debts?

The deeper question then becomes what actions on the part of the financial institution might lay a framework supporting a successful legal action under Negligence?

One of my favorite literary characters is Sherlock Holmes. In particular, when he says, "Elementary my dear Watson."

(In my book, what is "elementary" is that you can measure an individual or an institutions operational character by their willingness or unwillingness to pay what they owe in a timely manner.)

The 5 Basic Elements of Negligence are:

1. The defendant must have owed a duty of care to the plaintiff.

2. The defendant must have breached the duty.

3. The defendant’s breach must have been the direct cause of injury.

4. The defendant must have been able to foresee that harm would occur.

5. The victim must have actually suffered harm for which compensation is available.

Question? Do these basic elements meet the standard for Negligence when a client fails to pay a vendor's invoices in timely manner?

The question then becomes how do we measure the damages against the "client" who has been negligent in paying their vendors invoices?

Types of damages in negligence cases include:

• Nominal damages: Awarded when a plaintiff was not injured but was legally wronged.

• Compensatory damages: Paid for actual injuries suffered, designed to return the plaintiff to the same situation before the negligence occurred.

• Aggravated damages: Awarded for non-economic loss such as pain and suffering.

• Exemplary or punitive damages: Intended to punish the defendant for gross negligence.

As a vendor, I know what it is like to be forced to juggle the expenses necessary to maintain client relationships. The costs of mandatory insurance converge limits, VPN's, PEN Test's, Audits & Responses, Exterior Consultant's, Technology Providers, and so forth. These costs are real, and these bills must be paid each and every month.

Are VENDORS (Legal and otherwise) the bad guys for asking to be paid on time?

More importantly:

Should Legal Professionals be driven to the point where their only option to be paid what they are due is to bring a lawsuit against their clients?