Good call Judy.  Professional posts about interesting topics!

I like the "form" at the bottom of the rate sheet idea, but before I say anything I will wait for Kevin to weigh in on it.

It is unfortunate that so many posts involve shady practices and non-payment, but it is obviously a point of major concern.  Recently our company has received several solicitations from prospective clients, but as a rule we don't get very many.  Most of our time is spent trying to hang on to (and sometimes collect from) the clients we have.  Much of my day is spent haggling over copy costs, search fees, canceled searches and rejected filings.

I have found that the best way to weed out non-paying clients and avoid haggling is to have a conversation with the client.  E-mail is great, but nothing can replace a conversation.  I'm sure this places me well into the 'naive' camp, but I base a lot of decisions involving clients on the conversations I have.

This is not to imply that we don't ALL talk to our clients or that taking precautions isn't advisable.  I just tend to trust my gut - I sounds so old fashioned - when we start work for a client.  If it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck ...

Reading this forum has helped me become more proactive and realistic about our business practices - I should probably try a little harder to give something back.