Creditors? Rights Law Firm Continues to Innovate

When a small firm called Gardner & Spilka hung a shingle back in 1930 to help local businesses collect debts, few involved could have imagined the path the company would take to become the largest creditor rights law firm in the country and a formidable ARM provider.

Gardner & Spilka would go on to become Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co. (WWR), a Cleveland-based, law firm/collection agency with 950 employees and more than 200 collectors. But in the beginning, the firm mostly focused on commercial and bankruptcy work for local banks.

In an interview with insideARM.com, partner Alan Weinberg detailed the history of the firm and its newest innovative program. Just last month, WWR announced the formal expansion of its healthcare practices group focusing on the nursing homes niche. Sara Donnersbach was tapped to head the division.

The newly-expanded group will service the market with traditional collection efforts, work within the probate process, and employ non-traditional collection techniques such as creating legal liability for debts involving third parties and working with state Medicare/Medicaid offices to resolve payment disputes. There has already been a huge interest shown from clients in the services, according to Donnersbach. Both Donnersbach and Weinberg view the niche segment as a high-growth area in the healthcare market as the demographics of the U.S. skew older.

About 50 years ago, healthcare collections weren’t considered as a possible collections sector. In the mid-1950s, Garner & Spilka became Gardner, Spilka and Weltman, reflecting the addition of partner Maurice Weltman. Soon, Bob Weltman, Maurice’s son, joined the firm full time after earning his law degree.

When Alan Weinberg joined the company in 1975, there were about 50 employees. Banks were starting to issue more and more credit cards and get involved in automobile financing. Bob Weltman wanted to focus on the new retail segment of collections. This split the firm, with Weltman, Weinberg and several attorneys going one way, and the remaining partners sticking with the tried and true.  

Shortly thereafter, the new partners were faced with a decision on investing in an innovative piece of technology.

“We knew that this retail collection model called for high volumes of accounts and successful collections,” recalls Weinberg. “So we knew we needed a computer.”

It was 1979 and computers were relatively rare and costly. Weltman and Weinberg went to their bank for a loan to buy the expensive machine, but the bank wanted personal guarantees from the partners. Only Weltman and Weinberg were willing to personally guarantee the loan. The bank accepted the guarantees, the other partners left, the firm got its computer and promptly changed its name to Weltman, Weinberg and Associates.

After the computer was installed, the firm grew very rapidly. The firm eventually opened new offices in Ohio, then in other states. In 1994, it added Al Reis to its banner.

Today, Weltman, Weinberg & Reis has offices in Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. About 50 percent of its current revenues are derived from collection activity.