Creditors select accounts for immediate referral to law firms in order to collect. Some law firm’s collection attempts will be very similar to an assignment collector where the firm is paid a performance fee just like assignment collectors. Others may start off with that appearance, but will then begin legal process in order to collect. Attorneys who sue in order to collect will generally add legal fees to the final judgment amount. Most law suits for unpaid credit card debt go uncontested and default judgment is entered against the debtor. The judgment itself is a piece of paper, but with legal enforcement implications that allow for collection of the debt via lien, levy and garnishment. Being sued in order to collect has its own costs that will vary, with no guarantee the judgment can be collected on. For your creditor, this means higher cost’s with an unknown return (rest assured the return as an aggregate justifies the expense enough to keep this part of the pipeline in tact-otherwise it would no longer be supported).