there’s more to consider than you may realize.
by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice
question: a former client owes me a lot of money and will not pay or even discuss a settlement. i want to sue him. what can you tell me about this?
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response: i don’t know the details so cannot address your specific situation. however, i have some comments about suing that i would like to share with you.
i don’t think it makes sense to sue clients for fees. once you sue, you immediately know you will get less because of the costs of the suit, and you are never sure you will prevail. you will also have to spend an inordinate amount of time recreating the situation, invoices and time runs about what the work was for and how it was done and by whom, and have to dredge up old records and dissipating memories. you will waste a lot of time on this plus at meetings with lawyers and depositions. and we all know that depositions are often postponed and drag out – is this what you want to subject yourself to?
another reason not to sue is that many clients countersue, alleging some form of malpractice, and many times it is for amounts greater than what they beat you out of. this necessitates mounting a defense further causing you more nonproductive time. it will also put you in the position of possibly defending odd phrases, notations and comments on your workpapers that meant nothing at the time. you will need to report the countersuit to your malpractice carrier, subjecting you to their questioning and enquiries, and more added time. further, some insurance companies will not insure you if you regularly sue for fees.
my advice is to chalk the loss up to your ineptitude in operating your practice and lack of diligence in making sure you get paid for the hard work you did.
leave the past where it belongs – in the past.
one response to “why you shouldn’t sue a client”
john kosowsky
i agree with this in most part except for the cheap shot bout ineptitude. in the forensic practice often i got stiffed for the final bill, especially in divorce cases. so i stopped doing divorce cases. despite one’s trying to stay current, often there are requests from counsel for more work, explanations, etc. i have not found n easy around the risk of non-payment. i did build in a cushion in my rates to take this rick into account/