Wilson Cole's Podcast From The Road

We have recently seen a trend with some of our clients who ended up in litigation after receiving a check from their clients saying “paid in full” and here is our first piece of advice: you have the right to shut up and you should exercise it. Do not assume you know what is going on and call us. Unfortunately, we have a history of clients coming to us after accepting checks that said, “paid in full”. In the old days, if they wrote some special wording on a check, you still reserved your rights for protection. Recent rulings have weakened that understood protection and made it so if a client writes extra wording on a check, it should no longer be trusted. When we hear an excuse about advice taken from a 1980s law class, it never comes from an attorney. An actual lawyer will be constantly updated on changes in the laws, so do not trust that one class you took back in business school and listen to the advice of a practicing lawyer. So, what happens when a client goes to dispute a check that says, “paid in full”?