A time may come where you suddenly realize that you’re spending more time performing collections tasks than running your business. In such a case it might be worth your time and money to hire a professional collections attorney.
The first instinct of many business owners who need help with collections is to go to a collection agency. However, it is often the case that attorneys who specialize in debt collection (such as Jayaram Law) offer a greater benefit and effectiveness, especially if the debt is serious enough to warrant legal action. And while there is the common belief that a collection agency will cost less than hiring an attorney, that’s not always the case at all.
The cost of collecting a debt depends on the scale and complexity of the collection effort, and in many cases it is much wiser and more cost effective to hire an attorney to send letters and perform other relevant communications, and then file a lawsuit if necessary.
A collections attorney may charge an hourly fee, collect a percentage of the amount recovered, or both. If you decide to pursue the matter in court, your costs to the attorney will include court-related fees and other charges in relation to the lawsuit. This is a much less expensive scenario than going first to a collection agency and then having to hire an attorney should the matter be taken to court.
And as we’ve cautioned a number of times in previous articles on this blog, beware of attorneys who employ aggressive or adversarial tactics in their collections activities. Such an approach will not only work against you in collecting money owed, but it may destroy a perfectly salvageable and valuable business relationship. It is important to find a good attorney whose objective isn’t merely to collect money from your late-paying or no-paying customers. A critical function of a collections attorney should be to facilitate the healthy continuity of the business relationship.
At the Jayaram Law, you don’t pay us anything unless you recover your debt (or a portion of it). We handle your collection matters on a contingency basis. In 2010, we collected over 90% of all money due and outstanding to our clients.
The Jayaram Law routinely and successfully assists its clients in their business-to-business (b2b) collection needs. We take pride in obtaining payment on accounts receivables without fracturing critical business relationships or engaging in time-consuming and costly litigation efforts.
If you need business debt collection services conducted in a professional manner, contact our B2B (business-to-business) debt collection law firm by calling 312.454.2859 or visiting www.jayaramlaw.com.