Our practice is commercial collections. That focus is what makes us efficient and effective at the work we do, and it’s also why we turn away matters outside our scope instead of handling them poorly.
This page is the explicit list of matters we don’t take. It’s here for two reasons: to help potential clients quickly tell whether we fit their need, and to point people whose matters fall outside our scope toward better options.
We turn away matters and recommend other counsel regularly. That’s part of how we protect our focus and serve clients well within it.
Pre-Litigation Transactional Work
We don’t handle:
- Loan documentation and structuring
- Contract drafting and review
- Credit-application design
- Vendor agreement negotiation
- Lease drafting
- Security agreement and UCC filing preparation
- Other front-end transactional work
We collect debts after they exist. Front-end documentation is the job of transactional commercial counsel, sometimes the same lawyer who handles other parts of the client’s business. If you need front-end commercial documentation, we’re glad to refer you to transactional counsel.
Bankruptcy Representation
We don’t act as bankruptcy counsel. We coordinate with bankruptcy counsel where state-court collection and bankruptcy proceedings touch, but we don’t:
- File petitions for clients
- Represent clients in their own bankruptcy cases (debtor-side)
- Represent unsecured creditors’ committees
- Handle adversary proceedings as primary bankruptcy counsel
- Practice routinely in bankruptcy court as a substantive bankruptcy practice
When a matter needs bankruptcy representation, we coordinate with your bankruptcy counsel or recommend bankruptcy counsel from a working list.
Family Law
We don’t handle:
- Divorce
- Child custody and support
- Spousal support
- Pre- and post-marital agreements
- Adoption
- Other family law matters
For family law, including matters where collection intersects with it (child support arrearages, division of marital debts in divorce, post-divorce enforcement), we refer to family law counsel.
Estate Planning and Probate
We don’t handle:
- Wills and trusts drafting
- Estate planning
- Probate administration
- Will contests
- Trust litigation as primary trust counsel
For matters in this area, including ones where collection touches estate or trust questions (collection against an estate, collection involving trust assets), we refer to probate or trust counsel and coordinate as needed.
Real Estate Transactional Work
We don’t handle:
- Real estate purchase and sale closings
- Title work
- Real estate development matters
- Landlord-tenant matters as primary practice
- Construction contract drafting
- Other real estate transactional work
We do handle real-estate-related collection matters: judgment liens on real property, foreclosure of judgment liens, real estate deficiency suits under § 51.003, and certain construction collection matters involving lien claims. The line runs between real estate work for transactional purposes (not handled) and real estate work in debt enforcement (handled).
Employment Law
We don’t handle:
- Wrongful termination claims
- Wage-and-hour disputes
- Employment discrimination
- Non-compete enforcement
- Employee benefits
- Other employment law matters
For employment matters, we refer to employment counsel.
Criminal Defense
We don’t handle criminal matters. When criminal issues come up alongside a collection matter, bad checks, fraud charges, theft of services, embezzlement, we refer to criminal defense counsel. For civil matters with potential criminal implications (Texas Property Code Chapter 162 trust fund violations, for example), we handle the civil component and flag the potential criminal exposure for separate evaluation.
Personal Injury
We don’t handle:
- Auto accident claims
- Premises liability
- Medical malpractice
- Product liability
- Other personal injury matters
For personal injury, we refer to personal injury counsel.
Tax Matters
We don’t handle:
- Tax planning
- Tax controversy with the IRS or Texas Comptroller
- State or local tax disputes
- Tax-driven entity structuring
When tax considerations bear on a collection decision (most often the year-end write-off question), we’re glad to talk through the legal collection side and coordinate with your tax advisor on the tax treatment.
General Commercial Litigation Outside Collections
We don’t handle:
- Breach of contract litigation outside the collection context (disputes over performance, warranty claims, complex commercial disputes)
- Business divorce and partnership disputes
- Trademark, copyright, and patent litigation
- Securities litigation
- Antitrust matters
- Class actions
- Mass tort matters
Our practice is collection-focused. For commercial litigation outside that focus, we refer to commercial litigation counsel.
Consumer Debt Collection (Generally)
Our collections practice is primarily commercial. We generally don’t handle:
- Routine consumer credit card collection at scale
- Consumer mortgage default work
- Consumer auto loan deficiencies (though we do handle some commercial vehicle deficiencies)
- High-volume consumer debt purchasing portfolios
We sometimes take consumer matters that have commercial characteristics or arise from a commercial relationship, and we evaluate each one individually.
For consumer collection at volume, specialized consumer firms are usually the better fit. The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and related consumer-protection statutes shape that space heavily, and consumer-focused firms have the procedural depth that work demands.
Defense Work Generally
We represent creditors. We generally don’t:
- Represent debtors against collection actions (except in narrow situations where we hold the underlying matter and representation is appropriate)
- Defend wrongful-foreclosure claims
- Defend debt collection abuse claims
- Defend fair-debt-collection-practices violations
For debtor-side defense work, we refer to debtor-defense counsel.
Outside Texas
Our primary practice is in Texas. For collection matters in other states, we:
- Coordinate with local counsel where we’re your primary contact
- Handle the Texas component of multi-state matters
- Refer fully out-of-state matters to qualified counsel in the relevant state
We don’t establish local representation in other states.
International Matters
We don’t handle international debt collection as a substantive practice. When a matter involves foreign debtors with Texas connections, we handle the Texas component. For substantively international matters, we coordinate with international counsel or refer.
Why This Page Exists
Our practice profile is what makes the collections work focused, efficient, and effective. Keeping it that way means saying no to matters outside it. This page makes the boundaries explicit so:
- Potential clients can tell quickly whether we fit their need
- Referring lawyers know which matters to send us and which to send elsewhere
- Existing clients understand our lane and can coordinate other work accordingly
Our reputation rests on doing what we do well. Saying no to matters outside that focus is part of how we keep it.
What the Firm Does Do
For clarity, here’s our actual practice:
- Commercial collections (trade creditors, suppliers, distributors, wholesalers, professional services)
- Lender-side collection work (banks, credit unions, finance companies, equipment lessors, specialty lenders)
- Note and guaranty enforcement
- Deficiency suits after collateral disposition
- Real property judgment lien foreclosure
- § 51.003 fair-market-value offset litigation (both sides)
- UCC Article 9 commercial reasonableness litigation
- Replevin and sequestration to recover collateral
- Construction creditor collection (suppliers, subcontractors, materialmen, surety bond claims, trust fund claims)
- Personal loan collection for individuals
- Post-judgment enforcement (for judgments obtained by us or by other counsel)
- Foreign judgment registration and enforcement (Texas judgments out of state, other-state judgments in Texas)
- Dormant judgment revival
- Collections while a judgment is on appeal, including supersedeas and net-worth affidavit challenges
- Multi-state coordination on collection matters
- Coordination with bankruptcy counsel on creditor matters
If your matter falls within these areas, contact us. If it doesn’t, we’re glad to point you to better-fitting counsel.
Contact us to get started or call 214-368-4686.