Getting a Debt Recovery Job
If you are currently looking for a new legal job and are considering vacancies in a law firm within a Debt Recovery Legal Team, this article is designed to give you an insight into the day to life of a Debt Recovery Lawyer and the duties of a Debt Recovery job.
A Debt Recovery job is a good career choice for those individuals who enjoy a structure and procedure to follow.
Depending on the value of the claim, as a general rule of thumb, cases will be dealt with in the County Court via the Small Track, Fast Track or Multi Track. Each track has a different structure.
With the Small Claims track this is aimed at individuals or small companies dealing with claims themselves, therefore this is a fairly informal procedure with few deadlines to comply with.
In the Fast Track there are more deadlines to comply to with regards to disclosure of documentation/evidence and allocation.
The Multi-Track is for high value and generally more complex issues with again strict deadlines and procedures to follow.
As an example, I will run through a general Small Claim in the County Court.
Initially, the client, whether an individual, Partnership or a Limited Company, Limited Liability Partnership or a PLC will approach a Solicitors firm and instruct a member of a specialist Debt Recovery Legal Team to deal with the dispute on their behalf, this could be for example regarding an unpaid invoice.
To distinguish, an individual or partnership who are being sued are personally liable for any Judgment against them whereas a Limited Company, LLP or PLC are a separate legal entity in itself, in other words, as a general rule of thumb, the Directors or Members are not directly liable (and in the case of a LLP are only liable for a sum agreed between the partners at the outset of the agreement). There are cases where Director/Members can be liable but that is complex and so I will not talk further about this.
Upon instruction the Lawyer dealing with the case will send a Letter Before Action to inform the Respondent of the potential claim and to demand payment say within 7 days of the date of the letter. This letter will outline, the sum due together with any interest or costs to be added.
If payment is not then received, a Claim Form is issued in the County Court together with a copy of the unpaid invoice. This is then acknowledged by the Court and the Respondent is sent a copy, together with a Response Pack outlining a fixed period to respond to the Claim with their Defence.
Assuming that the case then proceeds, each party may wish to disclose further documentation to each other.
In any event, a Hearing then takes place at which Judgement may be given either payable immediately or by a certain date.
If payment is then not forthcoming, you may look at Enforcement Options. This may include instructing a Bailiff in the County Court, or a Sherriff or applying for an Attachment of Earnings. If you know that a sum is due to the Respondent from another party, you may make an Interim Third Party Debt Order application - this could be freezing their bank account or applying for an order that other money due to the Respondent is paid to the Claimant. There are other options to include registering a charge against the property so that payment is made when the house is sold or if for a large amount of money you may make an Application for Sale. You may also request the Debtor to attend an Oral Examination where they will have to answer to the Court under Oath details about their financial situation and assets etc. There are various options available and you will assess which Debt Recovery Enforcement option you wish to take when you know more about the Debtor.
In cases where the sum due is over a certain amount (specified by law), you also have the option of presenting a Bankruptcy Petition (in the case of an individual or partnership) or a Winding Up petition/Insolvency (in the case of a Limited Company, Limited Liability Partnership or PLC). This is much more complex but with the market in its present condition and the recent credit crunch, I predict that Bankruptcy and Insolvency will increase substantially.
You can choose to apply for voluntary Bankruptcy or Winding Up/Insolvency. Many individuals who have serious debt will choose to apply for Bankruptcy. This therefore in essence wipes the slate clean with regards to your debt and at some point in the future (sometimes as little as a year) the Bankruptcy status will be discharged. If individuals are still earning, the chances are they may have to make a small payment each month to their Debtors. However the amount is generally minimal.
Debt Recovery jobs, as well as Bankruptcy and Insolvency work can be demanding and interesting work. Structure is apparent which is good for individuals looking for legal jobs in this area of, sometimes as a starting point before moving on to more complex Civil or Commercial Litigation matters. Alternatively, there are some very successful Debt Recovery Solicitors who chose to do a Debt Recovery job alone because it offers both the structure and the excitement of Court Proceedings and attending Court to perform Advocacy.
So therefore, if you are looking for a legal Debt Recovery job as a Solicitor/Legal Executive/Trainee Legal Executive/Paralegal or Legal Assistant I hope you have found this article to be of some assistance to you in your decision making process as to your future career in law.
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