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Good day everyone,

I am wondering if there has been a consensus regarding how to handle late fees on accounts that become past due in your forensic practice?  

Over the last several months, really since the government shutdown, I have had an increasingly difficult time collecting on late accounts related to forensic cases as well as life care plans.  Generally, I tend to work with law practices that tell me they need more time and offer payment plans, if requested prior to the case becoming past due.

The problem lately has been that attorneys have just ignored my invoices until they become late.  Specifically, I have one attorney now who has been four months late in paying their invoice.  There was a retainer fee in place, but the amount was nominal in relation to the total amount invoiced, and they sent one partial payment after the invoice was already 30 days past due.  Now that the same law office is asking that I waive all late fees because they state their client (the evaluee) cannot afford the fees (I charge 12% simple interest on late invoices without compounding the interest to the principal).  

This late fee policy was clearly spelled out in the retainer agreement the attorney signed prior to my work on the case.  I attempted several times to reach the attorney by phone, email, and through the invoicing system (FreshBooks) without any response from anyone in their office.  On their one late partial payment, there was no note asking for a payment plan or any communication at all on how they intended to pay the rest of the invoice.  In fact, I reached out via email and phone, checking in on the attorney to make sure he was ok and to tell him to contact me to discuss the invoice.  I would have been ok with the payment plan had he responded at all.

Late fees are not meant to be punitive to the Evaluee, but rather to the attorney who failed to pay as agreed upon in the retainer agreement.

If anyone has any experience or would like to share how they handle these situations and/or what their late fee policies are, it would be greatly appreciated. 

Many thanks,

------------------------------
Sara Statz
sara.statz@gmail.com
Middleton, ID, United States
------------------------------

Good day everyone,

I am wondering if there has been a consensus regarding how to handle late fees on accounts that become past due in your forensic practice?  

Over the last several months, really since the government shutdown, I have had an increasingly difficult time collecting on late accounts related to forensic cases as well as life care plans.  Generally, I tend to work with law practices that tell me they need more time and offer payment plans, if requested prior to the case becoming past due.

The problem lately has been that attorneys have just ignored my invoices until they become late.  Specifically, I have one attorney now who has been four months late in paying their invoice.  There was a retainer fee in place, but the amount was nominal in relation to the total amount invoiced, and they sent one partial payment after the invoice was already 30 days past due.  Now that the same law office is asking that I waive all late fees because they state their client (the evaluee) cannot afford the fees (I charge 12% simple interest on late invoices without compounding the interest to the principal).  

This late fee policy was clearly spelled out in the retainer agreement the attorney signed prior to my work on the case.  I attempted several times to reach the attorney by phone, email, and through the invoicing system (FreshBooks) without any response from anyone in their office.  On their one late partial payment, there was no note asking for a payment plan or any communication at all on how they intended to pay the rest of the invoice.  In fact, I reached out via email and phone, checking in on the attorney to make sure he was ok and to tell him to contact me to discuss the invoice.  I would have been ok with the payment plan had he responded at all.

Late fees are not meant to be punitive to the Evaluee, but rather to the attorney who failed to pay as agreed upon in the retainer agreement.

If anyone has any experience or would like to share how they handle these situations and/or what their late fee policies are, it would be greatly appreciated. 

Many thanks,

------------------------------
Sara Statz
sara.statz@gmail.com
Middleton, ID, United States
------------------------------

This issue comes up periodically, and in my experience, the key is separating sympathy for circumstances from the contractual and professional framework we operate within.

In forensic and litigation support work, the contractual relationship is with counsel, not the evaluee, and is irrespective of the financial circumstances of the individual being evaluated. Payment terms are part of that professional engagement, and deviation after the fact undermines both predictability and fairness across cases.

From an operations standpoint, late fees and enforcement mechanisms are not punitive; they are tools to manage risk and ensure the sustainability of the practice. When invoices are ignored or paid inconsistently without prior communication, that becomes a contract compliance issue, not a hardship issue.

Most practices I'm familiar with address this through clearly defined engagement terms, escalation to formal collection processes when necessary, and suspension of future services until accounts are brought current. In more extreme situations, counsel should also be mindful that persistent failure to honor financial obligations can raise professional responsibility concerns.

Clear expectations on the front end and consistent enforcement tend to prevent most of these problems from recurring.

Good day everyone,

I am wondering if there has been a consensus regarding how to handle late fees on accounts that become past due in your forensic practice?  

Over the last several months, really since the government shutdown, I have had an increasingly difficult time collecting on late accounts related to forensic cases as well as life care plans.  Generally, I tend to work with law practices that tell me they need more time and offer payment plans, if requested prior to the case becoming past due.

The problem lately has been that attorneys have just ignored my invoices until they become late.  Specifically, I have one attorney now who has been four months late in paying their invoice.  There was a retainer fee in place, but the amount was nominal in relation to the total amount invoiced, and they sent one partial payment after the invoice was already 30 days past due.  Now that the same law office is asking that I waive all late fees because they state their client (the evaluee) cannot afford the fees (I charge 12% simple interest on late invoices without compounding the interest to the principal).  

This late fee policy was clearly spelled out in the retainer agreement the attorney signed prior to my work on the case.  I attempted several times to reach the attorney by phone, email, and through the invoicing system (FreshBooks) without any response from anyone in their office.  On their one late partial payment, there was no note asking for a payment plan or any communication at all on how they intended to pay the rest of the invoice.  In fact, I reached out via email and phone, checking in on the attorney to make sure he was ok and to tell him to contact me to discuss the invoice.  I would have been ok with the payment plan had he responded at all.

Late fees are not meant to be punitive to the Evaluee, but rather to the attorney who failed to pay as agreed upon in the retainer agreement.

If anyone has any experience or would like to share how they handle these situations and/or what their late fee policies are, it would be greatly appreciated. 

Many thanks,

------------------------------
Sara Statz
sara.statz@gmail.com
Middleton, ID, United States
------------------------------

Hello,

An additional option could be to contact the local bar association about unpaid bills and failure to comply with contractual agreements.  You may be able to find a section in that state's rules of professional conduct on it.  While the bar association may not take action, they may reach out to the attorney at the very least part of the complaint.  As an inactive member of the Washington Bar Association and not practicing law, I STILL don't want to receive a call from the bar about anything, even if the bar isn't going to and/or can't take action.  That may be a little scorched earth, but this is a member of a licensing body covering legal responsibilities who isn't honoring a legal contract...

This issue comes up periodically, and in my experience, the key is separating sympathy for circumstances from the contractual and professional framework we operate within.

In forensic and litigation support work, the contractual relationship is with counsel, not the evaluee, and is irrespective of the financial circumstances of the individual being evaluated. Payment terms are part of that professional engagement, and deviation after the fact undermines both predictability and fairness across cases.

From an operations standpoint, late fees and enforcement mechanisms are not punitive; they are tools to manage risk and ensure the sustainability of the practice. When invoices are ignored or paid inconsistently without prior communication, that becomes a contract compliance issue, not a hardship issue.

Most practices I'm familiar with address this through clearly defined engagement terms, escalation to formal collection processes when necessary, and suspension of future services until accounts are brought current. In more extreme situations, counsel should also be mindful that persistent failure to honor financial obligations can raise professional responsibility concerns.

Clear expectations on the front end and consistent enforcement tend to prevent most of these problems from recurring.

Good day everyone,

I am wondering if there has been a consensus regarding how to handle late fees on accounts that become past due in your forensic practice?  

Over the last several months, really since the government shutdown, I have had an increasingly difficult time collecting on late accounts related to forensic cases as well as life care plans.  Generally, I tend to work with law practices that tell me they need more time and offer payment plans, if requested prior to the case becoming past due.

The problem lately has been that attorneys have just ignored my invoices until they become late.  Specifically, I have one attorney now who has been four months late in paying their invoice.  There was a retainer fee in place, but the amount was nominal in relation to the total amount invoiced, and they sent one partial payment after the invoice was already 30 days past due.  Now that the same law office is asking that I waive all late fees because they state their client (the evaluee) cannot afford the fees (I charge 12% simple interest on late invoices without compounding the interest to the principal).  

This late fee policy was clearly spelled out in the retainer agreement the attorney signed prior to my work on the case.  I attempted several times to reach the attorney by phone, email, and through the invoicing system (FreshBooks) without any response from anyone in their office.  On their one late partial payment, there was no note asking for a payment plan or any communication at all on how they intended to pay the rest of the invoice.  In fact, I reached out via email and phone, checking in on the attorney to make sure he was ok and to tell him to contact me to discuss the invoice.  I would have been ok with the payment plan had he responded at all.

Late fees are not meant to be punitive to the Evaluee, but rather to the attorney who failed to pay as agreed upon in the retainer agreement.

If anyone has any experience or would like to share how they handle these situations and/or what their late fee policies are, it would be greatly appreciated. 

Many thanks,

------------------------------
Sara Statz
sara.statz@gmail.com
Middleton, ID, United States
------------------------------

Hello,

An additional option could be to contact the local bar association about unpaid bills and failure to comply with contractual agreements.  You may be able to find a section in that state's rules of professional conduct on it.  While the bar association may not take action, they may reach out to the attorney at the very least part of the complaint.  As an inactive member of the Washington Bar Association and not practicing law, I STILL don't want to receive a call from the bar about anything, even if the bar isn't going to and/or can't take action.  That may be a little scorched earth, but this is a member of a licensing body covering legal responsibilities who isn't honoring a legal contract...

This issue comes up periodically, and in my experience, the key is separating sympathy for circumstances from the contractual and professional framework we operate within.

In forensic and litigation support work, the contractual relationship is with counsel, not the evaluee, and is irrespective of the financial circumstances of the individual being evaluated. Payment terms are part of that professional engagement, and deviation after the fact undermines both predictability and fairness across cases.

From an operations standpoint, late fees and enforcement mechanisms are not punitive; they are tools to manage risk and ensure the sustainability of the practice. When invoices are ignored or paid inconsistently without prior communication, that becomes a contract compliance issue, not a hardship issue.

Most practices I'm familiar with address this through clearly defined engagement terms, escalation to formal collection processes when necessary, and suspension of future services until accounts are brought current. In more extreme situations, counsel should also be mindful that persistent failure to honor financial obligations can raise professional responsibility concerns.

Clear expectations on the front end and consistent enforcement tend to prevent most of these problems from recurring.

Good day everyone,

I am wondering if there has been a consensus regarding how to handle late fees on accounts that become past due in your forensic practice?  

Over the last several months, really since the government shutdown, I have had an increasingly difficult time collecting on late accounts related to forensic cases as well as life care plans.  Generally, I tend to work with law practices that tell me they need more time and offer payment plans, if requested prior to the case becoming past due.

The problem lately has been that attorneys have just ignored my invoices until they become late.  Specifically, I have one attorney now who has been four months late in paying their invoice.  There was a retainer fee in place, but the amount was nominal in relation to the total amount invoiced, and they sent one partial payment after the invoice was already 30 days past due.  Now that the same law office is asking that I waive all late fees because they state their client (the evaluee) cannot afford the fees (I charge 12% simple interest on late invoices without compounding the interest to the principal).  

This late fee policy was clearly spelled out in the retainer agreement the attorney signed prior to my work on the case.  I attempted several times to reach the attorney by phone, email, and through the invoicing system (FreshBooks) without any response from anyone in their office.  On their one late partial payment, there was no note asking for a payment plan or any communication at all on how they intended to pay the rest of the invoice.  In fact, I reached out via email and phone, checking in on the attorney to make sure he was ok and to tell him to contact me to discuss the invoice.  I would have been ok with the payment plan had he responded at all.

Late fees are not meant to be punitive to the Evaluee, but rather to the attorney who failed to pay as agreed upon in the retainer agreement.

If anyone has any experience or would like to share how they handle these situations and/or what their late fee policies are, it would be greatly appreciated. 

Many thanks,

------------------------------
Sara Statz
sara.statz@gmail.com
Middleton, ID, United States
------------------------------