Hire vs DIY
When DIY is fine
When the matter is in between
When you should hire me
Should I hire an attorney for my Stripe, PayPal, or Square dispute?
Most merchants try the portal, escalate twice, and run into the same templated reply. The reflex at that point is to send a long, frustrated letter on their own. Sometimes that is the right call. Often it is not, because the unrepresented letter lands in the same queue as the original ticket and produces the same templated reply. This page is about deciding which posture you are in. The free tools on this site cover the early steps. Attorney work changes the routing, not the law. I do not promise the funds come back. If the matter has merit, the letter typically opens a settlement conversation that the portal will not.
Use the templates and free tools on this site when
- You are at the first or second portal escalation. Try the in-app dispute path and the second-level escalation before paying anyone. Most processors have an internal escalation tier above frontline support that frequently resolves the issue without legal involvement.
- You want to understand what the processor's contract actually says. Read the Stripe rolling reserves insight, the PayPal adverse action notice insight, and the AAA Consumer vs processor arbitration insight. Each walks through the actual contract sections.
- You want a starting template for the demand letter. The Stripe funds demand letter guide, the PayPal funds demand letter guide, and the Square funds demand letter guide walk through what a working letter contains.
- Your held balance is under roughly $5,000. At that size, the attorney letter does not pencil out. Document the chargeback ratio, send written escalation through the processor's own portal, and let the contractual release window run.
- The hold has a clear contractual basis and the release date is on the calendar. If the contract authorizes a 90-day rolling reserve and the processor is releasing on schedule, the contract is being followed. There is no leverage to fight.
- You are still operating on the account and revenue is flowing. Fighting an active processor before you have a backup processor stood up is the most common merchant mistake. Set up Mercury, Wise, Brex, or a competing processor before you escalate.
- You want to know whether the processor's notice satisfied California law. The adverse action notice insight and the AAA Consumer rules insight cover the recurring failure modes.
Book a 30-minute consultation when
- Your held balance is between $5,000 and $20,000 and you cannot tell whether the contract supports the hold. A $125 / 30 min consult against the processor's user agreement and your account history is enough to tell you whether attorney work is justified.
- The processor has cited "Acceptable Use Policy" without specifying the alleged violation. One scoping call walks through whether the demand letter should ask for the specific provision allegedly violated before pushing further.
- You are facing a sudden high-risk MCC reclassification with a reserve increase. The fact pattern is recurring and the contract leverage varies. Thirty minutes against the notice and the user agreement is usually enough to triage.
- The processor offered a settlement that is below your number. A short scoping call tells you whether the realistic arbitration-driven release range is higher than the offer, or whether the offer is the right floor.
- You need a chargeback wave defense plan but the dollars are mid-five-figures. The consult covers whether a structured response wins back individual chargebacks, or whether the right move is to absorb and migrate.
Hire me for the matter when
- Your held balance is over $10,000 and the first two portal escalations were templated. The $575 demand letter on the linked payment processor practice page is the right tool. The letter is routed to legal or to a dedicated escalations queue, where a human actually reads it.
- The processor's user agreement requires AAA Consumer or AAA Commercial arbitration and a filing is realistic. The $1,200 demand letter plus draft arbitration demand tier signals you are prepared to file. AAA Consumer rules typically place most of the filing fee on the business, which changes the leverage curve.
- You face a permanent limitation with funds inside and the standard 180-day hold has begun. The recurring pattern is that an attorney-signed letter accelerates release of a portion of the held balance before the 180-day mark.
- The processor has applied a reserve change without contractually sufficient notice. 24-hour notice for a 25 percent reserve increase rarely satisfies the "reasonable notice" standard on the facts. Attorney letter, on attorney letterhead, citing the specific notice provision the processor did not satisfy.
- You are running out of cash and the held balance is the only working capital. The cash-runway dispute is the one where the letter has to go out fast, properly drafted, with a clear request for partial release. Templates are too slow and too generic for this posture.
- The dispute is cross-border (US-incorporated entity, founder based in Asia or the Russian-speaking world). The structural questions about choice-of-forum, OFAC posture, and bank account routing layer on top of the processor question. See the related cross-border practice page.
- You need a one-page memo for your investors or board explaining the realistic timeline and recovery range. This is hourly work at $240/hr, not a letter. The deliverable is the memo, not the demand.
The honest decision rubric
- How much is held and how long has it been held? Under $5,000 or under 30 days, usually template plus portal escalation. Over $10,000 and beyond the contract's stated hold window, attorney letter.
- Did the processor cite a specific contract provision, or a vague "policy violation"? A specific cite means the contract is on their side. A vague cite means the demand letter should ask them to specify before they hold further.
- Is the contract's arbitration forum favorable on filing fees? AAA Consumer typically places most of the filing fee on the business. That changes the merchant's marginal cost of escalating, which changes the value of an attorney-drafted letter.
- Do you need the funds back, or do you need to be reinstated? Reinstatement is rare. Funds release within a structured wind-down is realistic. Decide which goal you are actually after before paying anyone.
This page is informational and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Engagement begins only after written conflict check and a signed scope agreement. Outcomes described are not guarantees; if the matter has merit, the letter typically opens settlement.
If your situation lines up with the hire column
Send me the processor's hold or termination notice with one paragraph on the numbers. I respond personally, usually within one business day. If the right answer is a portal escalation or a small-claims filing rather than my $575 letter, I will tell you.
See the payment processor practice page Email the intake