Pay now or pay later...but pay me now.

1 show cause hearing - 150 dollars
3 visits to county jail - 500 dollars
18 phone calls from clients ex wife - 225 dollars
Getting stiffed after plea agreement - Priceless

When I told my Real Estate professor Lou Reynolds that I would be opening up a solo following law school he gave me some advice I think is worth repeating. He said, "you need to remember --Trapping, Skinning, Collecting-- Because boy if you can't trap clients (find them in the wild) you are no lawyer. And if you can't skin your catch (effectively give legal advice) you are no lawyer. And if you can't Collect your bounty(get paid), you are no lawyer.
It is the collecting I'd like to talk about today. With all the trouble and endless complaints about getting clients to pay isn't it wonderful that Mastercard is there? There seems to be more and more lawyers that prefer to get paid up front with credit cards despite the fees associated with the privilege [sic] of accepting credit cards.
The rate at which they suck blood ...er charge rather....is disparate among firms. From what I can ascertain expect to pay around 1.75% - 3% plus a per transaction fee (about 25 cents) depending on type of card. A good tip that came up on Solosez last week was to comparison shop and make sure you look into your local bank (like the one with your client trust acct.).
If there is one thing I HATE it is paying money to anyone for anything...but here the tide of consensus is so overwhelming that even I must concede. However...I think I'll be encouraging Paypal, since their fees are supposedly the lowest.


Try this for a slogan. Your credit is good here, so long as it is secured.

Any stories out there from OklahomaSolo readers about credit card experiences? Post a comment or send me an email!