Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Louisiana

If you feel that you don't owe the money, answer the suit and fight the case. That's what the court is there for, so both sides can tell their story to the Judge, who will decide whether anything is owed. You probably want to hire an attorney to represent you. You may have defenses that you don't even know about.

If the doctor committed some sort of malpractice, you will certainly want to talk to a lawyer immediately about that. In addition to being a defense to owing the money, you need to act on your own malpractice claim before time runs out to file that claim.

If you feel that you owe the money, but you just feel like the amount is too much or something of that nature, you can also try calling the plaintiff's (doctor's) lawyer and working out some sort of settlement and payment arrangement. His name and telephone number are listed on the petition you were served with. Collection lawyers are generally professional and willing to work with people that are showing a real intent to make good on debts they know they owe.