Litigation & Drafting
Money Recover Lawyer
We support individuals, professionals and businesses in recovering outstanding payments through the proper legal channels: debt recovery, business disputes, cheque bounce matters, contract disputes and civil litigation.
The ground
What you are actually dealing with
Choosing the route
The same debt can be pursued several ways, and they are not interchangeable. A summary suit under Order XXXVII of the Civil Procedure Code is available where the claim rests on a written contract, a bill of exchange or an enforceable liquidated demand, and it denies the defendant an automatic right to defend. A dishonoured cheque supports a criminal complaint under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. An arbitration clause diverts the whole dispute out of court. A corporate debtor above the threshold may face insolvency proceedings. The right route depends on the paperwork, and it is chosen before anything is filed.
The cheque bounce timeline is unforgiving
Section 138 runs on strict periods. The cheque must be presented within its validity. A demand notice must be issued within thirty days of the bank's return memo. The drawer then has fifteen days to pay. The complaint must be filed within thirty days of that window closing. A day missed at any point can end the complaint on limitation alone, whatever the merits.
Notices are not a formality
A properly drafted demand notice resolves a large share of matters without proceedings, because it makes the consequence concrete. Where it does not, it becomes part of the record: evidence of demand, of acknowledgement, and often of an admission in the reply. Skipping it rarely saves time and frequently costs the case its best document.
Our part
How we approach recovery
Recovery is a commercial exercise before it is a legal one. What matters is whether the money can actually be collected, and choosing the route that gets there fastest at a cost proportionate to the amount.
- 01
The debtor's ability to pay is assessed before the route is chosen: an unenforceable decree helps nobody.
- 02
Summary suit used where the documents support it, because it denies the defence a free pass.
- 03
Section 138 timelines diarised from the return memo, since that is where these complaints are usually lost.
- 04
Settlement pursued in parallel, because most recoveries end in one.
Scope
What this engagement covers
- Demand and statutory notices
- Summary suits under Order XXXVII and ordinary recovery suits
- Cheque bounce complaints under section 138 of the NI Act
- Contract, invoice and partnership disputes
- Arbitration and conciliation under a contractual clause
- Insolvency proceedings against corporate debtors
- Execution of decrees and attachment
How it runs
The process, stage by stage
No stage carries a promised date. The Registry's queue and the court's list are not ours to commit on your behalf. What we commit to is doing our part of each stage without delay.
- 01
Assess
The documents, the limitation position and the debtor's ability to pay are examined, and the route chosen on that basis.
- 02
Notice
A demand or statutory notice is issued, which resolves many matters and strengthens the record in the rest.
- 03
Initiate
The suit, complaint, arbitration or insolvency application is filed, with interim relief sought where assets are at risk.
- 04
Prosecute
Evidence, cross-examination and arguments through to judgment or award.
- 05
Recover
Execution, attachment and garnishee proceedings, because a decree is not money until it is enforced.
Common questions
Questions we are asked most often
It depends on the dates. The demand notice must go within thirty days of the return memo and the complaint within thirty days of the fifteen-day payment window closing. Bring the memo and the notice, if any, and the position can be established immediately.
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