Profile: Technology is Linebarger?s Foundation, Future

Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP, started collecting government receivables in its home state in 1976 when the details on receivables and debtors were kept in dusty ledger books. It was clear then, long before computers were standard equipment, the process needed to be automated.

The first step, according to Rick Haass, chief technology officer, was to write software for the government agencies to track accounts receivable. That software provided the foundation for Linebarger’s collection services for government entities and remains a significant part of the Austin, Texas-based firm’s total business, which has grown to an estimated $1 billion in recovered receivables this year.

“One reason for our growth is that we spend tens of millions of dollars every year on technology,” said Mike Vallandingham, a firm partner and chief marketing officer. Linebarger devoted about $25 million to its tech budget last year, he said.

That investment is necessary to “make hundreds of thousands of phone calls, mail millions of demand letters and files tens of thousands of lawsuits and bankruptcy claims on behalf of our clients each year,” said Vallandingham.

While some collections firms may have larger annual technology budgets, it is doubtful another law firm spends so much on collections technology, said Vallandingham. Many collections law firms stick with litigation and “look down their nose” at actual collections, he said.

Those firms could be missing out on some significant business. Linebarger represents roughly 1,900 public sector clients and dozens of private sector clients through it four dozen offices nationwide. For government clients, the firm collects taxes, fees, fines, tolls, service charges and miscellaneous items. For public and private sector clients, Linebarger provides a full suite of collection services, from skip tracing to phone calls and letters to litigation and bankruptcy litigation to pre- and post-judgment collection efforts.

“Our firm has enjoyed double-digit growth [in recovered receivables] for the last several years,” Vallandingham said. “We can represent customers in litigation, so we provide full services (litigation and collection services) in a single contact. We’re not a typical law firm.”