About James S. Silverman
I am a life-long resident of Omaha, NE. Married for 45 years with two
children and two grandchildren. In 1972 I obtained my Juris Doctor degree
from Creighton University and am licensed to practice in both Nebraska and
Iowa, belonging to the bar associations in both states. I am licensed to
appear before the United States Supreme Court and the Eighth Circuit Court
of Appeals and am also a member of the National Association of Retail
Collection Attorneys. Post graduate education in trial advocacy has been
obtained at The Hastings College of Law and I have both chaired and
participated as a panel expert in numerous Nebraska Bar Association
Continuing Legal Education seminars in collections and enforcement of
judgments in Nebraska as well as conducting educational seminars for Dun &
Bradstreet to local businesses on effective collection practices.
Mission Statement:
Maintain active participation in continuing legal education in order to
provide clients with prompt and competent information and representation;
eliminate unnecessary delay and expense; and, minimize client's exposure to
potential claims from debtor's rights zealots. Do nothing to foster
unreasonable collection expectations by client. Treat each debtor with
respect; while being firm and aggressive without being hostile or abusive.
Keep the client informed at regular intervals and invite communication to
foster understanding and cooperation. Operate an office using the latest
technological innovations and techniques in order to meet clients'
expectations of efficiency without sacrificing quality.
Firm History and Philosophy:
Silverman & Silverman Law Office is a third generation law firm that has
been serving client needs since the early 1930s. Harry Silverman, my
grandfather, graduated from Drake Law School and spent the first few years
of his practice in the Nebraska Attorney General's office and began his solo
practice in Omaha, NE around 1940. My father, Robert Silverman graduated law
school from the University of Nebraska and joined Harry in the practice
around 1945. Six years later Harry passed away and dad was soon looking for
a way to supplement his general law practice.
Around 1953, Dun & Bradstreet, having just begun its entry into the
fledgling collection industry, contacted my dad and inquired whether he
would like to "supplement his income" by doing some collection work in the
Omaha area. Dad accepted the proposal and for the next nineteen years the
collection area of his solo practice grew to about 20%.
Then, in 1972 I graduated from Creighton University Law School and joined my
dad in the firm. My attention was immediately drawn to the collection area
of the practice and over the next twelve years I had managed to develop a
significant commercial and retail collection following. So much so that in
the early 1980s I spent significant time and resources on developing a
software package devoted to collection work. I soon realized that I could
not serve two masters and left the software development to others,
concentrating exclusively on my collection practice which now comprised
almost 80% of the office's work load.
Dad retired in 1986 and I have been at the helm ever since. I currently
devote about 97% of my time to collection work and have determined over the
years that there are generally two basic types of collection philosophies
when it comes to making a living; either handle a huge number of claims
using the latest methods of sorting the "wheat from the chaff" and then
employ numerous non lawyer individuals to do the actual collecting, hoping
income sufficiently exceeds overhead; or, accept only as many claims as each
lawyer can effectively evaluate and pursue, giving the client no false
expectations as to collectability, and then extracting from each pursued
claim all that the law and ethics allow. Silverman & Silverman Law Office
subscribes to the later philosophy and by following that course has become
and remains one of the premier collection firms in the Omaha area.
