FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions to Ask Your Collection Attorney
When interviewing collection attorneys, these are the questions you should be asking:
Frisella Law Firm specializes in commercial debt (B2B) collections, not retail collections. This means we help businesses collect money owed to them from other business entities resulting from a breach of contract.
At Frisella Law Firm we get paid on contingency which means no risk to you. Payment collected from your debtor goes directly to the law firm’s IOLTA account and client funds and attorney’s payment are issued at the same time. We do not get paid unless and until we collect money for you.
Frisella Law Firm has established a network of B2B collection attorneys in all 50 states. This allows you to hire one law firm for all of your collection needs. It also allows you, when necessary, to file a lawsuit against your debtor in the state in which they are domiciled, which greatly increases your likelihood of getting paid and greatly reduces the time it takes to collect the money owed to you.
Some law firms use paralegals, secretaries or collection agents to contact your debtor. At Frisella Law Firm, we use only experienced attorneys from the very first call. Using an experienced collection attorney is another way to improve your collection results while protecting your business’ reputation in your industry.
Don’t turn over your collection account to just any law firm. Finding the right attorney who specializes in your type of collection case and interviewing the attorney who will be handling your account ensures you will receive the best services and legal representation.
Breach of Contract Lawsuits
Act quickly! If you think you have a breach of contract case, you should gather all emails, documents, invoices and contracts and seek legal advice from a qualified attorney, like an attorney from Frisella Law Firm. The sooner you take action, the greater your chances of recovery.
The statute of limitations is the law that cites the legal deadline for filing a lawsuit after a contract has been breached. Each state has its own SOL. The deadline varies by state, type of contract and legal notification of the breach. Certain factors can even pause or reset the date. But, if you miss your statute of limitations by trying to collect too late (even by one day!), your case will get thrown out of court. To learn more about the SOL for your particular contract, contact Frisella Law Firm.
It depends. Several factors are taken into account to determine if a creditor has the legal right to stop services when they are not being paid including state statutory and case law, type of industry, type of services, reason for non-payment and contract terms, just to name a few. Before terminating services, be sure to consult a qualified attorney.
Absolutely not. Hiring an attorney does not take away any of your control over your case. You always have the final decision to make, accept, reject or counter an offer, and to file (or not) file a lawsuit. At Frisella Law Firm, we share our expertise so you can make educated decisions throughout the collection and litigation process.
Breach of contract cases (aka commercial debt collection cases) can be complicated and vary greatly from state-to-state. At Frisella Law Firm this is and has been our specialty for over 20 years. Contact our office for a free consultation and have all of your breach of contract questions answered by a professional.
Commercial Debt Collection
Commercial debt collection pertains to breach of contract between two businesses, not people. The industry calls these debts B2B (business-to-business). Even if other businesses are called your “customers” or “clients” they would still fall under commercial debt collections. Retail debt collections, on the other hand, pertain only to individual people (consumers) as your customer or client. These are called B2C (business-to-consumers). B2C debt collection is heavily regulated by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) which was established to protect consumers from unfair debt collection practices. Alternatively, B2B cases are regulated by their business contract and state contract laws. This body of the law offers a different perspective by encouraging businesses to create their own agreements and provides general laws and principles that allow business to operate throughout the country with some measure of uniformity. At Frisella Law Firm, we provide B2B collection services only. We love this work! This is all we do and we do it well.
Contingency fee means the attorney gets paid only AFTER they successfully, physically collect money for you. Contingency fee agreements shift the risk of legal payment to the law firm so that the number of hours an attorney works does not matter – a winning end result is the only way the attorney gets paid. Contingency fees still may require the plaintiff to pay for some costs (ie: filing the lawsuit, paying a sheriff for serving the lawsuit, etc.) but not for paying the attorney for their work on the case. Contingency fees are only permitted for plaintiff-side litigation. Contingency fees are never used for defense of a lawsuit, including defense resulting from a counterclaim; these can only be done with hourly legal rates.
Yes. But only if your contract properly denotes your right to do so. However, just because you did not include interest on your invoice, or forgave it in the past, does not necessarily mean you cannot add it on later.
Sometimes. But this requires proper notice in the contract and depends on state laws, industry standards and case law. Sometimes, it even depends on the particular judge who decides your case. As a practical matter, though, this is rarely allowed in commercial debt collection cases and is often negotiated away by the debtor.
YES! Frisella Law Firm has created a network of attorneys who can help you collect in all 50 states, allowing you the flexibility you require while greatly reducing your need to find professional representation throughout the country.