Questions You Should Ask Before Hiring a Lawyer for Your Arizona Midland Funding Case

Finding a lawyer to represent you in your debt collection lawsuit against junk debt buyers like Midland Funding, Portfolio Recovery, CACH, LLC (or any other junk debt buyer) can be a difficult task.  There aren’t a lot of lawyers like myself that focus on representing people in consumer debt collection cases.

In this article I want to go over questions you should ask any lawyer you are looking to hire to represent you in your debt collection lawsuit:

#1 – Do They Handle Consumer Debt Collection Cases Regularly?

Many times people will meet with an attorney who focuses on general civil litigation. Civil litigation is the general term used for cases handled in the civil court system.  These cases can be anything from breach of contract cases to commercial business cases to eviction proceedings.

If an attorney tells you they are a “civil litigator” you need to press them further and ask them if they specifically handle consumer debt collection lawsuits – particularly those against junk debt buyers like Midland Funding.

If they don’t you need to keep looking.  I have done both – general civil litigation – as well as what I do now, consumer defense work.  And there is a big difference between the type of legal advice you will get from someone who handles general civil cases as opposed to an attorney like myself who focuses on defending people against junk debt buyers.

The typical advice I hear from civil litigators to consumers being sued by a junk debt buyer is to simply throw in the towel and pay the money or file for bankruptcy.  However, an attorney who has extensive experience in fighting junk debt buyers understands that these cases are often very winnable and that you have more leverage than you might think.

#2 – Do They Handle FDCPA Cases?

The Fair Debt Collection Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) is a federal law that governs what debt collectors can and can’t do in the collection of debts.  The FDCPA applies to junk debt buyers.  If an attorney handles both FDCPA cases as well as consumer defense in junk debt buyer cases you will have the added advantage of not only an attorney who can defend you against the claims of junk debt buyers but review your case for FDCPA claims against the junk debt buyer.

This can not only result in you obtaining a damages award against the junk debt buyer but providing additional leverage to either get a lower settlement or your case dismissed outright.

#3 – How Many Junk Debt Buyer Trials Have they Handled?

As with most things, the more experience your lawyer has with defending junk debt buyer cases the more likely it is that you will prevail.  If the attorney you are interviewing hasn’t done any or many debt buyer trials you might want to keep on looking.  You only have one shot with your case – you don’t want your case to be the test case for your lawyer.