CCAL Law Conference -- Day 2, Part 3 -- The Economy, Again

Another session dealing with the economy -- this time, "How to Guide Your Firm Through the Economic Slump". Four partners/shareholders of various sized firms are addressing the economy's effect on firms; all of these firms are seeing dramatic increases in revenue, and (unfortunately) parallel increases in accounts receivable.

One bit of consistent advice from all of the panelists (Hobbs & Olson clients beware) is that firms be more aggressive in following up on accounts receivable. All of the panelists report terminating clients who haven't been paying.

Two collection attorneys in California report that due primarily to the California statutory restrictions, they are accessing each routine collection matter at least 50times. Suddenly, the weather in Southern California is not quite as inviting...

All of the attorneys on the panel insist upon payment for their collections rather than accepting contingent referrals; the consistent response: "You get what you pay for..." Contingent firms, these panelists say, tend to focus only on gathering the "low hanging fruit". Those easy cases, of course, are not the most important cases to be pursuing.