Did you continue to work for this client during these 6 months not getting paid?
He has an example where the same thing happened, an entire department got laid off.
In most places, no lawyers are allowed, and no discovery. Filing is cheap typically.
Discovery is vital to keep nonsense costs down.
If anyone is thinking of going into consulting:
- simple, plainly worded contracts with pay schedules are important
- check your local small claims court, focus on if lawyers are allowed, if discovery is allowed
- find out what your local demand letter laws are like. A demand letter may be required prior to small claims court.
IN RETROSPECT... I could possibly have taken them to small claims twice, over two unpaid invoices - each around $4k. That would have kept me under the limit, and possibly sped everything up a lot.
Also, if it is a larger corp, even 50 people, small claims court means you are expending far less energy, and funds, than they do.
A corp of even 50 will probably hire a lawyer for advice, and to prep the case, even though the lawyer cannot be in court. The lawyer may try to hound you, trying to pretend they can compel discovery (again check local small claims laws here!)
Many small claims courts don't even allow recovery costs. Meaning, they just spent $20k, and pulled half a dozen employees into repeated discussions, you spent $100 on filing, and some of your time.
I have so little sympathy for miscreants who have no valid reason to pay, other than the one cited above. Pfft. Need to test it, will take half a year.
Come on! Their incompetence is not a valid reason to place an account in arrears.
I work, you pay, that's that.
(No anger here at all!)
So drag them into small claims, and watch them waste multiples of what they would have originally paid.