Advertising with The Jewish Link has made me feel like a mini celebrity. Maybe not quite as famous as my instafamous wife @wellsquarednutrition (forgive the shameless plug), but my parents and kids take great pride in my weekly appearances, and other acquaintances—and even strangers—often approach me and say, “Hey Jeff, I saw your ad! Looks great!”
It’s a nice feeling. I’m glad the ad looks great. But it seems rare for anyone to recall the actual message. If I turn around and quiz them on my practice area, they usually return a blank stare. I’d like to change that.
Our firm is now expanding into the Queens, Bronx, Westchester and Riverdale Jewish Link markets, so this seems like an opportune time to better explain the type of law we practice and how we can help your business get paid if you happen to be owed money.
All business owners out there know firsthand that other businesses sometimes “forget” to pay you for your products or services. Calling and emailing doesn’t help. They’re ignoring you. Or worse, they’re openly refusing to pay. Maybe they’re in financial trouble. Maybe bankruptcy is imminent. If and when they file for bankruptcy, the likelihood that your business will ever recover anything drops close to zero. Of course, thriving businesses with plenty of cash are not immune to payment allergies. Most businesses, no matter how prosperous, would prefer to avoid their bills like the plague. We have heard every excuse in the book. When you’re tired of hearing every excuse in the book, that’s when you call us. When we step in, you get paid. That’s what we do. And our consultation is absolutely free. No pressure. No commitment. Just a chat.
After your free consultation, if you decide to retain our firm, the first thing we do is send your debtor a demand letter on our letterhead. Then, if 15 days pass without a response, we attempt to make contact via alternative methods. Since 65% of businesses continue to ignore a lawyer’s letters and calls, filing a lawsuit is generally the next step. After we establish the appropriate court and venue in New York or New Jersey (depending on a number of factors including the dollar amount of the debt at issue), we file the necessary papers and your debtor gets served.
Whether you have a straightforward “collection” case (e.g., the debtor bought your product, you delivered the product, you sent an invoice, and the debtor never paid) or a more complex “commercial litigation” matter (e.g., the debtor bought your product but refuses to pay because they claim you failed to adhere to a term of the contract), what happens next should be the same regardless: We’re going to do everything in our power to win.
A successful lawsuit will result in a standing judgement against your debtor for the amount owed. This means the force of the law is now behind your debt. However, a judgment is still just a piece of paper. Believe it or not, some businesses will still refuse to pay even in the face of a court’s order. This is when we enlist the help of a sheriff or marshall.
When provided with another document we prepare called a writ of execution, these law enforcement professionals of the debt collection world have the authority to seize your debtor’s funds from their bank accounts or even their physical property, such as cars, boats or equipment, which can then be converted by sale to the cash value of your judgment. Most of your debtor’s possessions are fair game for the sheriff or marshall, and this method of judgment enforcement is quite effective. If your debtor wants to remain in business, this is the point when they will have no other choice but to part with what’s owed.
To illustrate this process, here’s a story from a case we handled several years ago when we represented a large, well-known food distribution company from the tri-state area that was owed $15,000 for delivering goods to a restaurant. When the restaurant failed to respond to our demand letter, we sued in New York Civil Court and won a judgment. However, the restaurant still refused to pay voluntarily, so we sent the judgment and a writ of execution to a New York City Marshall, who then went into the restaurant and physically took $7,000 in cash out of their cash register, and then sent our office a $7,000 check. Somehow, the restaurant managed to come up with the remaining $8,000 quite quickly and voluntarily thereafter.
That is the type of result we are known to deliver, and as our law firm expands its reach further throughout the community, we hope our Link readers will continue to develop a deeper understanding of what it is we do and the various ways we can help you and your businesses. With lawyers barred in both New York and New Jersey, we take pride in serving individuals and companies of all types and sizes throughout the region with cases large and small. Please don’t hesitate to call us! As we say in our Link ad, it’s a call you should make “before it is too late.”
Jeffrey Kimmel has offices in New York City and Union, New Jersey. His law firm helps businesses collect their unpaid bills from other businesses. He can be reached at 1-800-401-7375 and [email protected]
