Medical billing and debt collection in the US

[Flubber]

Yes and no; that's what I'd alluded to earlier regarding the "English Rule" as opposed to the "American Rule." It is the case here that the loser must pay the victor's "costs and disbursements," but that is strictly limited to actual out-of-pocket, like court filing fees, transcription fees, witness fees, etc. Depending on the complexity of the case, these could be a pittance. In contrast to "costs and disbursements," actual attorneys' fees must be borne by both sides regardless of who wins. The only exceptions are where contract provides otherwise (resulting in virtually ubiquitous boilerplate for every business worth its salt) or where statute provides otherwise, such as the aforementioned FDCPA's grant of debtors' attorney fees. I've personally seen a debtor force a collection law firm to pay $42,000 of her attorneys' fees incurred to recover a paltry $1,000 penalty that hasn't been adjusted for inflation since the 1970s. That's where the real deterrent lies, and if you make the mere threat, a "cost of defense" offer of $1500-$2500 may well drop into your lap.

There are cost of defense settlements in Canada too but I suspect fewer of them since you can recover something substantial from the plaintiff-- depends on the industry-- medical folks fight everything unless they know they are at fault-- ZERO settlements ever on cost of defense-- They believe it cheaper in the long run for everyone to know a medical case will NEVER be easy

WE also have two types of costs

Part and party costs are according to a fee schedule-- it usually covers a bit over half of your legal bill depending on which row the schedule the judge sets.
Solictor client costs can also be awarded in the discretion of the court or pursuant to a variety of rules around settlement offers. Worst or best case--depending on your point of view was where this came up in a personal injury case. It was a car accident where liability was admitted and the damages part took a couple of weeks--- The plaintiff WAS hurt but lied completely about the severity and the defense had the videotape. His award of 40,000 was less than the settlement offer the defence had made so the defense got solicitor client costs for everything after they made the offer-- The plaintiff ended up owing money and his lawyer-- who was on contingency and was legitimately blindsided got nothing--- so the system "worked" to reward the party that made the reasonable offer to settle.

[Darius871]

There are cost of defense settlements in Canada too but I suspect fewer of them since you can recover something substantial from the plaintiff-- depends on the industry-- medical folks fight everything unless they know they are at fault-- ZERO settlements ever on cost of defense-- They believe it cheaper in the long run for everyone to know a medical case will NEVER be easy.

True enough; I'd only mentioned it because if you were going to make threats about an FDCPA suit, they would assume it would take place in a U.S. court with jurisdiction over their headquarters, because a Canada court would not be hearing that aspect of the case. Since it would be here, they would know that any defense would cost far more than the $1,000 you demand, even if they win, which they wouldn't.