Our rate is one third of the recovery, rising to 40% if the case reaches trial or arbitration. If there is no recovery, there is no fee.
The short answer. On a standard commercial collection we charge one third (33⅓%) of everything recovered if the matter resolves before appearance at a trial or arbitration, and 40% if it resolves at or after that point. There is no hourly billing, and if nothing is recovered you owe us no fee.
The rate depends on which agreement your matter falls under. All four are contingent — no recovery, no fee.
| Matter type | Standard rate | If contested |
|---|---|---|
| Collections Unpaid invoices, notes, contracts |
33⅓% Resolved before appearance at trial or arbitration |
40% Resolved at or after that appearance |
| Post-Judgment Enforcement You already hold a judgment |
33⅓% Of amounts from settlement or enforcement |
No escalation |
| Sister State Judgments Out-of-state judgment, California assets |
33⅓% | 40% If the debtor files an evidentiary hearing challenging the judgment's validity |
| Arbitration Awards Confirming an award into a judgment |
33⅓% Without a hearing contesting the award's validity |
40% Resolved at or after a hearing contesting confirmation |
Contingency fees are not fixed by law. They are negotiated between attorney and client. The rates above are our standard terms and they are what appear in the agreements below, but they are a starting point for a conversation, not a tariff.
This is the question we get asked most, and the answer surprises people, so it is worth stating plainly.
The fee applies to the total amount recovered — principal, interest, costs, and any attorney's fees awarded — not to the face value of your original invoice. If we recover $150,000 on a $120,000 debt because the contract carried interest and a fee clause, the fee is calculated on the $150,000.
That cuts both ways, and mostly in your favor: pursuing interest and a fee award is additional work, and a percentage of the whole recovery is what makes it worth doing rather than settling for principal alone.
You are not billed hourly. You are not billed a retainer against future hours. If the claim produces nothing, you owe this firm nothing for its time.
The honest trade-off: if the debtor pays quickly and the matter takes little legal effort, one third may work out higher than an hourly bill would have been. That is the premium for carrying none of the downside risk. A few creditors — those with very strong claims against obviously solvent debtors — are genuinely better served hourly, and we will tell you if we think you are one of them.
Hard costs are owed to third parties, not to this firm: court filing fees, service of process, levying-officer and sheriff's fees, court reporters, record and asset searches, and occasionally a receiver or investigator. You post an initial deposit at the outset to cover them.
We may advance further litigation costs, and you reimburse them on billing — but we will tell you in advance before incurring any individual cost over $100. You will not open a statement and find a charge you did not know was coming.
The engagement is for prosecuting your claim. It does not include:
Any of those can be taken on under a separate arrangement. We would rather draw the line clearly at the start than argue about scope later.
One further term worth knowing: sanctions awarded against an opposing party or their counsel — for abuse of the litigation process, say — are retained by the firm rather than treated as part of your recovery.
Where your contract has a prevailing-party fee clause, or a statute provides for fees, we pursue them, and an award is real money out of the debtor's pocket rather than yours.
Do not plan your recovery around it. Courts routinely award fees in collection matters under schedules so low as to be unrealistic — often 6% to 8% of the debt. That figure bears little relationship to what litigating a claim actually costs. It supplements a recovery; it does not replace a fee arrangement.
Recovered funds are deposited into the firm's Client Trust Account, as the State Bar requires, at an FDIC-insured institution. Once deposits clear, disbursements go out weekly with an accounting showing what was collected, what costs were applied, and how the fee was calculated.
Every rate above appears in writing in the relevant agreement. Read the one that matches your matter before you call — the fee terms are in the second paragraph of each.
Standard collections — unpaid invoices, notes, contracts, open accounts.
Enforcing a California judgment you already hold.
Domesticating an out-of-state judgment against California assets.
Confirming an unpaid arbitration award into an enforceable judgment.
Do not sign one yet. Call first. We would rather spend twenty minutes establishing that a file is not right for us than have you sign an agreement for work we are going to decline. The initial review is free and creates no obligation on either side.