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ankruptcy | www.bankruptcyattorneys-georgia.com By Kimberlee Payton Jones The recession of the late 2000s was the impetus for Brian Poe to start his bankruptcy practice. He did not choose to start his bankruptcy practice for the typical reasons that one would expect during a recession. While one would expect it to have been a practical market decision considering the financial crisis, it actually came from a pragmatic assessment of Poe’s interests and strengths. For many years, Brian Poe & Associates has operated a successful law firm that consisted primarily of a real estate closing practice, in addition to several other practice areas. Upon leaving corporate America, Poe started doing closings and his business expanded so rapidly that he soon had attorneys across the state of Georgia doing closings for the firm. Like most real estate practices, Poe & Associates felt the ripple effects of the recession. The problem was further compounded by changes to the Georgia Bar rules that made it more difficult for small firms to do closings. As a result, Poe found himself at a crossroads in his practice, and so he did a self-assessment. He had a law degree. He knew that he liked to help people, and he had already experienced a high-level of success building his own practice. Poe also knew that he had to create a practice that would provide a certain level of income based on his prior earnings, but rather than choose a practice area based exclusively on how much money he could make, Poe wanted to go into an area about which he was passionate. Because Poe is passionate about helping people, it made sense to him to build a consumer-based practice. However, Poe also has a strong sense of self-awareness. Understanding that his strengths lie in building a good team, building solid relationships, and in marketing, he also knew that he had to build a practice where he could utilize a strong paralegal and support staff. In addition to being a great and effective lawyer, Poe is also a gifted businessman, which is not surprising given that he has an MBA from University of Georgia, as well a law degree from the University of Virginia. As such, he understood the importance of creating a practice where he would have the flexibility to meet with clients, do marketing, and build his business. All of these elements, in addition to advice from his colleagues that he would be good at bankruptcy, informed Poe’s decision to launch a bankruptcy practice, officially known as “Georgia Bankruptcy Attorneys, a division of Brian Poe & Associates, Attorneys, PC” with offices in Atlanta, Decatur and South Fulton (Union City). While Poe’s bankruptcy practice was spawned from a talent inventory and from the practical questions, Who do I like? and What do they need?; the practice has been sustained by Poe’s uncanny ability to choose good partners. “The reason I chose bankruptcy is because I am better at choosing partners and making sure people are paid,” he explained. “I am good at operating as a chairman. I am a relationship guy, a theme guy, a people guy.” The bankruptcy team includes managing attorney Winn Keathley, who received his law degree from Georgia State University and has extensive experience doing bankruptcy work. Keathley provides Brian Poe & Associates with consistent courtroom presence. The team also includes senior paralegal, Jennifer Miller, who worked at one of the largest bankruptcy firms in Georgia. Miller has many years’ experience working in Georgia bankruptcy courts and, having come from one of Georgia’s largest bankruptcy courts, helps Poe effectively manage the high-volume business that they have built. Poe describes Miller the bankruptcy practice’s “x factor”. “She is so smart and passionate about bankruptcy law that people say to me all the time, “I can’t believe she’s not a lawyer!”” When the firm is really busy, it enlists paralegal Nicholas Kyle, a super smart, former big bankruptcy firm colleague of Miller, to support the practice. Last but not least, Poe relies on the steady counsel of Jamie Cox, Esq., a Double Ivy League educated attorney with a Pennsylvania bar who practices under his supervision and is taking the Georgia Bar this summer. For a marketing boost, Poe also has hired Donald Craddock, who coined the firm’s “People’s Champs” tagline, as the firm’s Director of Community Engagement. Craddock’s acquisition has paid dividends for the bankruptcy practice in particular, as the law firm’s “Friends of Georgia Bankruptcy Attorneys” Facebook group has grown to over 9,000 followers in just over one year. Poe is effective, of course in bringing in the clients and preparing them for the process. One of the benefits of working with Poe during bankruptcy is that he has multilateral practice, so his clients do not have to worry about the stigma that can be connected to hiring a bankruptcy attorney. Also, Poe quick to depart from the firm’s published fees and will structure an understanding that better fits the capability of each potential client - so that someone who needs help is able to utilize the firm’s services to file bankruptcy. The irony is that what developed from a pragmatic need to find a new practice area that could be sustained by practical partnerships, developed into a passion for Poe. “I chose bankruptcy, in part, because it was paralegal driven, but then I fell in love with what it is that we do. We stop foreclosures. We stop evictions. We stop creditor lawsuits. We stop harassing phone calls. We stop repossessions. And get this, many times we have even reversed a repossession that has already occurred – and returned a repossessed car to the original owner. When we help people within the law, and we later see them recover on a better track moving forward, it’s an amazing feeling,” Poe said. 6 | www.atlantaattorneymagazine.com
Debt Recovery / collections By Kimberlee Payton Jones It might seem somewhat incompatible that a bankruptcy attorney would launch a collections practice, but for Brian Poe the practice areas are simply two sides of the same coin. “I have always thought about doing collections,” Brian Poe explained. “My father has been a small business owner since 1969, and I know that for small businesses collecting all or most of their money could mean the difference between being profitable and being out of business.” Coming from this perspective, it makes senses for the corporate-lawyer turned consumer-focused attorney to enter the realm of collections. Corporations, large and small, need to have systems in place to recoup their losses in order to sustain their businesses. It has a ripple-effect on all aspects of the economy. In fact, Poe, like many other attorneys who maintain their own practices understands that financial sustainability can be difficult. “One of the most challenging aspects of practicing law is staying viable financially,” Poe said. Part of that is “because laws and regulations can change at any moment. Your future can be dictated by things that you cannot control.” For small businesses can experience a lack of control in the form of unpaid debt. This is an area with which Poe strives to bring a sense of control for his clients. Another aspect over which companies can have little control can be the collection practices utilized by the collection agencies that companies hire to assist them in mitigating their losses. “I feel that there are companies out here that don’t care about fair debt collection,” Poe said. “They are overly aggressive in their collections practices and don’t care about what they say, both from a legal standpoint and a moral standpoint,” Poe explained. This can create significant legal issues for companies that employ these agencies. In response to the propensity of many collection agencies to ignore the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), increasingly corporations are opting to retain law firms to do their collections work. As such, operating as a law firm that does collections has worked in Poe’s favor. Moreover, Poe cites compliance as his primary focus and his primary selling point. “We will be consistent and thorough, but most of all FDCPA compliant,” Poe says. “If there is a client that we are collecting for, I am not going to hard sell you by saying that we will collect more than any other firm. I am going to hard sell you on the fact that we have top quality people, and that we are going to be compliant,” Poe explains. As with his other practice areas and business ventures, Poe recognizes that establishing the correct partnerships and creating the right team is essential to the success of the practice. To that end, Poe attributes the bulk of the success of the practice area to his managerial team, which is \led by Tiffany Moore, who is the General Manager of Decatur-based Attorney Network Solutions, the division of Attorney Poe’s law firm that handles collections. Moore attributes the firm’s early success to Attorney Poe’s compliance mindset as well as her own ability to motivate their team to do their jobs the correct way. Poe speaks very highly of Moore, a former client of his law firm who has owned her own collection agency and managed collections staffs previously. “Despite my personal interest in doing collections, I paused at the idea - which was brought to me by Tiffany Moore - because of my bankruptcy practice,” Poe said. “It took a lot of persuasion, time and trust, and considering her counsel as well as the advice of an attorney friend with collections experience. Ultimately, I concluded that we could make a positive difference together in this business. I would not have launched a collections law firm without Tiffany Moore. She is my peer, not as an attorney, but from a business standpoint. She has my full trust.” “We know how to keep people happy, and this is coming from people who have worked at [collections firms],” Moore said. “We motivate people to do their jobs the right way rather than by threatening people.” As a result, Moore explains in agreement with Poe’s compliant-focused philosophy, “we do better business, not only because we are effective, but also because we are compliant.” Poe’s desire to protect himself and his reputation are part of the reason that he stresses compliance. Another aspect, however, is his understanding the necessity of protecting a company’s reputation as it seeks to collect money that it is owed. Consequently, Poe strives to build relationships with his clients so that even while doing their collections work he can protect their image in the community. By staying compliant, companies not only avoid potential law suits that could eclipse the money that they are attempting to collect, but they are also more likely to preserve the goodwill of the consumer. Some consumers may be experiencing a temporary financial hardship, but could also be a source of future business. Poe’s experience as a bankruptcy attorney is yet another aspect of his commitment to compliant debt collection. “Because I have experience on the other side, I definitely have a place in my heart for people who are experiencing debt issues,” Poe said. This focus on compliance has served Poe well. His collections practice has experienced substantial growth in a brief period and has exceeded his expectations. As a result, he has had to hire more employees and expand his office space. Contact: Attorney Network Solutions A Division of Poe & Associates, Attorneys, PC www.attorneynetworksolutions.com 4319 Covington Hwy. Suite 300 Decatur, Georgia 30035 (678) 250-5044 VOL. 6 ISSUE 3 ATLANTA ATTORNEY MAGAZINE | 7
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Page 5: Brian Poe By Kimberlee Payton Jones
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