Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Missouri

Re: Billed 3 years late.

I would suggest that you or your father call the law firm to set up an appointment to meet in person with the attorney responsible for the bill. At that time you could ask whatever questions you might have, receive whatever explanations the attorney is able and willing to provide, and hopefully come to an understanding. In many cases a law firm might be willing to agree upon accepting a lesser amount or accepting installments. In the event that the law firm is not willing to discuss your concerns, there are other options available to you. In the St. Louis area, our bar association (the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis) provides the services of a Fee Dispute Committee composed of attorney's, judges, and people from outside the legal profession. A client can submit a "complaint" to the bar association. The attorney and the client will be contacted by a volunteer on the committee, and efforts will be made to resolve any dispute. If this is not possible, both the client and the attorney or law firm will be given the opportunity to submit the dispute to mediation or arbitration in order to resolve the dispute without the necessity of going to court. All services are free of charge, but they do depend upon both sides being willing to participate. If you are not in the St. Louis area, the Kansas City Bar Association has a similar program, and the Missouri Bar provides similar servies for members of the public in all other areas of the state. I hope that you can work something agreeable out with the law firm one way or the other. Good luck.