Getting Paid What You Deserve: Key Takeaways from the Be That Lawyer Podcast
CollBox Team
At Collbox, we’re passionate about helping law firms get paid for their hard work. Recently, our co-founder Matt Darner joined Steve Fretzin on the “Be That Lawyer” podcast to discuss one of the most challenging—yet critical—aspects of running a successful law practice: accounts receivable management.
The Core Problem: Lawyers Shouldn’t Be Bill Collectors
The conversation opened with a simple truth that resonates with every attorney we work with: no one went to law school to be a bill collector. Yet countless lawyers find themselves spending valuable hours chasing down past-due invoices instead of focusing on what they do best—practicing law.
As Matt shared on the show, this is more than just an inconvenience. When lawyers are stressed about unpaid bills and spending time on collections instead of billable work or business development, it impacts the entire firm. The psychology around money is complex, and the aversion to asking for payment is pervasive across every industry—but it doesn’t have to be your burden.
See the full interview here:
You Get What You Pay For
The episode kicked off with a powerful quote from Red Adair, the legendary oil well firefighter: “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur.” This philosophy applies perfectly to accounts receivable management. Trying to handle collections internally without specialized expertise—or worse, doing it yourself—often costs far more in the long run than investing in the right solution.
The Biggest Mistakes Law Firms Make
Throughout the conversation, Matt identified several critical mistakes that allow AR to spiral out of control:
1. Trying to Control Everything In-House Many firms, especially solos and small practices, try to wear every hat. But collections requires a unique skill set—persistence, charisma, thick skin, and systematic follow-through. These qualities rarely overlap with the detail-oriented precision needed for billing or the expertise required for legal work.
2. Failing to Set Clear Expectations Setting expectations starts at the engagement letter. Attorneys need to clearly communicate billing cadence, payment terms, and consequences for non-payment from day one. When you don’t establish these ground rules upfront, you’re quietly signaling that getting paid isn’t really a priority.
3. Irregular Billing Practices If you’re not sending invoices regularly—ideally weekly or bi-weekly, but at minimum monthly—you’re undermining your own professionalism. Inconsistent billing tells clients that something is wrong with your business, whether you realize it or not. Each invoice should be viewed as a customer service touchpoint that showcases all the valuable work you’ve done.
4. Inconsistent Follow-Up When firms don’t follow up consistently on past-due invoices, they lose their leverage. The longer you wait, the harder it becomes. Attorneys psych themselves out after six months of avoiding a collections call, and suddenly a year has passed with no payment. Consistent, gentle follow-up from the start prevents this spiral and builds the confidence to escalate when necessary.
5. Normalizing Bad Client Behavior Most of us pay our electric bills and mortgages on time without thinking twice. Yet law firms often normalize late payments from clients. When you don’t present a well-oiled machine with clear expectations and systematic follow-up, clients internalize that you don’t really care about getting paid.
The Right Approach to Collections
Collections doesn’t have to feel adversarial. Matt emphasized that effective AR management is actually about customer service. A follow-up call should be friendly and assumptive: “Hey, I’m checking in on invoice 123. Did you get that? Do you have any questions? I’m sure you just missed it—anything I can help you with?”
This soft approach works because most clients aren’t maliciously trying to avoid payment. By giving them multiple opportunities to communicate, ask questions, or address concerns, you maintain the relationship while protecting your revenue.
Knowing When to Pull the Plug
One of the most important discussions centered on knowing your point of no return. Especially in practice areas like family law, where you can’t always withdraw from a case, firms need to identify early warning signs and take action before a $2,000 unpaid balance becomes a $30,000 nightmare after a major hearing.
Having a documented AR workflow—a series of “if this, then what” scenarios—ensures every team member knows how to respond when clients fall behind, without constantly interrupting the attorney.
The Solution: Specialization and Systems
The medical profession offers an instructive model. Doctors don’t handle billing questions because they’re trained to say, “I have no idea—someone else handles that.” This allows them to remain the hero and focus on providing excellent care. Law firms deserve the same separation.
At C0llbox, we’ve built a hybrid solution that combines technology with human expertise. By integrating directly with practice management systems like Clio and Smokeball, we pull invoice data and route it to trained AR specialists who make calls and send emails on behalf of your firm. Your clients see the same invoices and payment links they’re used to, but they’re getting consistent, professional follow-up without any effort from you.
Because one specialist can serve 15-20 firms simultaneously through our integrations, the cost is a fraction of hiring a dedicated collections person—something most small to mid-size firms simply can’t afford.
The Bottom Line
As Matt emphasized throughout the conversation: you deserve to be paid for your work. You bust your butt for your clients, and there’s nothing wrong with expecting timely payment. Getting your AR under control isn’t just about recovering past-due invoices—it’s about funding your firm’s growth with money you’ve already earned.
Before you start thinking about how to bring in new clients and new revenue, start by getting paid for the work you’ve already done. That’s the best investment you can make in your practice.
Want to learn more about how Collbox can take the pain out of collections? Visit us at collbox.co or connect with Matt Darner on LinkedIn.
