Messerli & Kramer and attorney fees for collecting debts

I was in court this morning, and showed up early, as usual. The hearing before mine was for attorney fees incurred in collecting a debt. The debt collection law firm was Messerli & Kramer, famous for its “unlawful and bad faith tactics.” The debtor represented himself, and actually did a fair job, although he kept wandering off the point. The judge actually grilled the Messerli & Kramer attorney on the fees generated, which was nice to see. Apparently, they only billed about .3 hours of attorney time. The other three hours or so were all billed by paralegals, including one hour for drafting the complaint. Now, there are complaints and then there are complaints. Messerli & Kramer’s debt collection complaint is a form that requires only the debtor’s name, the amount of the debt, and an account number to complete. The judge was–properly, I think–surprised at the billing time.

I was happy to see Messerli & Kramer getting grilled on their time. Debt collection law firms usually throw attorney fees into their complaints, but that doesn’t mean they are entitled to the full amount.