We work on contingency. If there is no recovery of money, property, or benefit, we receive no fee.
You do not pay us hourly. You do not pay us a retainer against future hours. If the claim produces nothing, you owe this firm nothing for its time.
That structure exists because it aligns the two sides. We do not get paid for activity — we get paid for results. It also means we cannot afford to take files we do not believe in, which is why intake screening is genuinely rigorous rather than a formality.
The honest trade-off. If the debtor pays quickly, or the recovery comes with comparatively little legal effort, our percentage may work out higher than an hourly bill would have been. That is the premium you pay for carrying none of the downside risk. Most creditors take that trade willingly; a few, with very strong claims against obviously solvent debtors, are better served hourly. We will tell you which one you are.
There is no single percentage, because the files are not comparable. A ninety-day-old invoice against an operating company in Orange County is a different proposition from a nine-year-old judgment against a debtor who has since moved twice and reincorporated. Rates are quoted per matter, based on:
| Factor | Why it moves the rate |
|---|---|
| Age of the debt | Older claims mean colder trails, weaker documentation, and limitations exposure. |
| Size of the claim | Fixed costs of suit are similar across claim sizes, so smaller claims carry a higher percentage. |
| Posture | A claim to be filed, a judgment to be enforced, and an award to be confirmed are three different amounts of work. |
| Documentation | A signed contract with a fee clause and a personal guaranty is worth more than a handshake and an invoice. |
| Debtor profile | An operating business with reachable assets versus a shell that has already been picked over. |
| Defenses | A disputed set-off or a defective-goods claim means litigation, not collection. |
Hard costs are owed to third parties, not to this firm, and they are yours: 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. For most single-defendant matters that carries the case through judgment. Where a file needs a significant additional expenditure, we ask first — every time.
Where your contract has a prevailing-party fee clause, or a statute provides for fees, we pursue them, and a fee award is real money that comes out of the debtor's pocket rather than yours.
Do not, however, plan your recovery around it. Courts routinely award fees in collection matters under schedules so low as to be unrealistic — often in the range of 6% to 8% of the debt. That figure bears little relationship to what litigating the claim actually costs. It is a useful supplement to a recovery. It is not a substitute for a fee arrangement.
Recovered funds go into the firm's client trust account at an FDIC-insured institution. After deposits clear, disbursements go out weekly, accompanied by an accounting that shows what was collected, what costs were applied, and what the fee was.