Areas of Practice - Litigation
With over 15 years of experience in commercial litigation, the firm has developed a system that is both effective and efficient in convincing debtors that its client's obligation should be elevated to the top of its list for payment.
When a customer needs your product or service, you have a high priority with that company. However, when the customer stops paying (and becomes a debtor) and you cut them off, the importance of paying you decreases. When our clients come to us, their obligation is no longer at the top of the priority list for the debtor. Our focus is to change the debtor's priority. We do that by making promises to the debtor as to what will occur if any particular matter is not immediately resolved. The first step is to send a demand letter which clearly sets forth the course of action. The second step (if there is no timely response to the demand letter) is to commence the litigation process by filing a lawsuit. At this juncture we normally capture the debtor's attention. We aggressively assert our client's rights in seeking to obtain a resolution of the dispute acceptable to the client. Any resolution reached (with the approval of the client) is documented with the entry of judgment which effectively brings the litigation aspect of collection to a conclusion."
The debtor is fully apprised that if the settlement arrangement is not met, that the judgment will be enforced aggressively in accordance with all available enforcement remedies. These would include levying on bank accounts, creating liens on real and personal property, and where appropriate, conducting examinations of the debtor's financial condition."
If a debtor files for federal bankruptcy relief, the firm will represent a client's interests in the bankruptcy proceeding. This could include filing proofs of claims, preserving statutory liens (such as construction related mechanic's liens) or monitoring the status of the bankruptcy proceeding. The firm can also defend against the filing of any preference action by the debtor's estate for the recovery of any payments received by the creditor within 90 days of the debtor's bankruptcy filing.
The firm handles debts ranging from $5,000 to millions of dollars. Barber, Banaszynski & Hiatt offers multiple fee arrangement options, depending on the nature of the services to be rendered, including modified contingency fees and hourly rates.