The story of Alice
How I found out debt-buyers are just bullies
A few days ago, I shared a story with a colleague about why I began representing people who were getting sued in collections cases. It all started with Alice (not her real name).
I also practice commercial litigation. Alice was the office manager for one of my construction-industry clients, and I had known her fairly well for several years. One day she called my office, and she was very upset. I asked her what was wrong, and she told me that her husband Anthony (not his real name either) was being sued for $9,000. Anthony was a small masonry subcontractor who put $9,000 worth of project materials on his Home Depot credit card. But when the homeowner paid the general contractor, the general contractor skipped on the job without paying Anthony.
I took a look at the case. Anthony was getting sued by Equable Ascent, a debt-buyer. But when I looked at the documentation attached to the complaint, everything seemed really sketchy. As a litigator, I immediately saw that this Equable Ascent company (long gone out of business as far as I can tell) just slapped some paperwork together and stapled it to the complaint against Anthony.
I first looked at the case as would the typical lawyer. I didn’t see a practical way to help Anthony and Alice. Not knowing how debt-buyers operated in court, I presumed that equable Ascent would be able to eventually prove its case if it ever went to trial. In the meantime, I would have to be charging Anthony and Alice my hourly rate to fight this case. By the time the dust settled, Anthony would probably have to pay the $9,000 owed plus he would be in the hole for my attorney’s fees.
Still, something bothered me about this approach.
Maybe Equable Ascent could prove its case. But if so, why was its paperwork so lousy? Plus, I knew Alice for several years as a wonderful and hard-working person. It really bothered me how her husband had been cheated. So I decided to take the case pro bono publico—lawyer Latin for no charge to my clients.
I threw myself into the case and fought hard. It paid off. The case was dismissed and never resurrected. That’s when I realize that the debt-buyers were in many cases actually just bullies.
Are you interested in reading more Defense by Davis posts like this one? Subscribe to my Substack account today! For immediate needs, click here to contact me directly.