Have you received a lawsuit from the law firm Apothaker Scian? Whether the lawsuit is filed at the local magistrate or in the Court of Common Pleas, we can help. Please do not make a payment or even speak to them until you have had a chance to speak with our law firm.
Apothaker Scian is one of the largest volume collection law firms operating in Pennsylvania who represent collection agencies and junk debt buyers. (They do also represent original creditors such as Discover Bank so they are not always representing a debt buyer). As you may know, these debt buyers purchase allegedly delinquent credit accounts for a fraction of the actual price and then try to collect 100% on those accounts. They then hire law firms like Apothaker Scian to file dozens of lawsuits in almost every county in Pennsylvania in hopes of collecting on these old debt claims that have been charged off by the original creditor. Apothaker has represented many of these companies such as Cavalry, LVNV, Asset Acceptance and others. They have experience and they know what they are doing.
While we believe that the Attorneys at Apothaker Scian are skilled, fair, honest and hard working, we have found that many of the lawsuits that they file are defective simply because they have not been provided with sufficient documentation/evidence by their respective clients. A collection attorney, no matter how good they might be, is limited by the information and evidence that their client gives them. In most instances the debt buyers do not give Apothaker sufficient evidence to properly prepare and present its case. Having said that, Apothaker Scian is not a law firm that you want to attempt to tackle on your own.
Our approach to defending lawsuits filed by Apothaker Scian is twofold. First, we defend the case based upon a lack of legal sufficiency. When a party files a lawsuit in Pennsylvania there are several points of proof that need to be placed in the lawsuit. Facts must be established that prove that you had a credit account, that you defaulted on it, that it is of a certain amount and that Apothaker Scian or whomever they are representing has the right to sue and collect on the alleged debt.
Legal Insufficiency (defects in the lawsuit)
In our experience, we have found that the lawsuits filed by Apothaker Scian on credit card claims are usually legally insufficient, at least at the onset of the matter. We object to these lawsuits on insufficiency grounds with tremendous success. Again, this is not an indictment of the great lawyers at Apothaker Scian, it’s simply a reflection of the lack of documentary evidence that is provided to them by many of their clients.
In the event that Apothaker is able to cure the legal insufficiency objections for their clients, (this occurs rarely on a junk debt buyer case, again because their clients often don’t have sufficient documentation, NOT because of the skill of the attorney) we then move on to defending the claim on its legal merits, i.e. whether you actually had the account, whether you actually defaulted on it, when the alleged default occurred, whether they have met the Statute of Limitations, whether they can prove the amount of damages, et cetera. In many of these debt buyer cases we can have the claim dismissed without you having to pay the collection agency anything. That is always our goal in these types of cases, that you pay ZERO to the collector. While that is our goal, it must be noted that no attorney or law firm has a 100% success rate. There can be no guarantee of winning any particular case. There are also circumstances where settlement is the better option. We look at each claim on a case by case basis and help the client make the best choice for their particular circumstance.
We are very concerned with some collection tactics that are used by some collection law firms. If they make any illegal threats against you such as wage garnishment or jail time, or, if they contact your employer or tell you that you do not have to respond to a lawsuit or show up at a hearing, then they may have violated the FDCPA. If that occurs we can bring a claim against them for unfair debt collection practices. The offending collection firm would have to pay our legal fees that are incurred for pursuing the claim against them.
Our firm has a great deal of experience in defending credit card collection cases against Apothaker Scian. We successfully defend or negotiate approximately 10-12 collection agency cases each month that are filed by this law firm. If you have been sued in Pennsylvania by Apothaker Scian or another collection firm, our firm can help you defend this claim at a fair cost, with a great chance at success. Contact our office here, or call us at 412-348-8600.