By Julie Bays

Every year at ABA TECHSHOW, one of the most entertaining and surprisingly insightful events happens before the sessions begin. The Startup Alley competition gives legal tech companies just three minutes to pitch their ideas to a room full of lawyers, who then vote on the winner.

This year’s winner, CollBox, caught my attention. Evidently, I wasn’t alone: CollBox’s pitch resonated strongly with the audience as well, earning enough votes to secure the top spot in Startup Alley. Their approach to tackling persistent billing challenges struck a chord with many lawyers in the room, highlighting just how widespread and urgent these issues are in legal practice.

Lawyers do not like calling clients about unpaid bills.

It is uncomfortable. It strains the relationship. And, more often than not, it gets pushed to the bottom of the to-do list until those receivables start to age… and age… and eventually get written off.

CollBox’s solution is simple in concept. They act as a third party, intervening before accounts are sent to collections, and follow up with clients through emails and calls. The goal is to be persistent but professional, helping firms get paid without the lawyer having to make that awkward call.

For some firms, especially those with a steady volume of billed work and aging receivables, this could be a helpful tool. It creates consistency, removes emotion from the process, and may improve cash flow.

But before you outsource this function, it is worth pausing for a moment.

In many cases, the problem is not collections. It is the system leading up to it.

I often see:

• unclear billing expectations at intake
• infrequent or delayed invoicing
• lack of evergreen retainers
• no automated reminders
• no clear process for addressing overdue accounts.

If those pieces are not in place, outsourcing collections may help temporarily, but it will not solve the underlying issue.

For most solo and small firm lawyers, the better first step is to tighten up billing practices: set expectations early, bill regularly, make it easy for clients to pay, and follow up consistently.

Once those systems are working, a service like CollBox may make sense as an additional layer of support, particularly for firms with enough volume to justify the cost.

The takeaway from Startup Alley is not just about a specific product. It is a reminder that many of the frustrations lawyers experience in practice management are shared and that new tools are being developed to address them.

Just make sure the tool is supporting a solid system in the first place.