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honey


Gucci

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Posts: 2818
Date:
need legal advice!
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i'm considering suing someone in small claims court? has anyone done this before? appx. how long does it take?

here's the story... it's kind of long, but i really want to know what my options are. my questions are in bold

the backstory is i responded to an job ad posted on our school's job network looking for someone to help wrtie a business plan for a company. after meeting with company representatives, and sitting in on a meeting i decided to come on board.

specifically what happened is after our last meeting, the owner asked  me if i wanted to write the plan. the next step was to discuss compensation. in our conversations i mentioned that i am working on a similar plan for another company. the owner said that i could work in the same fashion as another member of the team who submits a monthly bill for her hours. does this constitute an oral agreement?

fast forward to a few weeks later i receive this email:

XXX  is wondering if you've had a chance to gather any information etc.. regarding what we discussed during the last meeting.  He is going to be meeting with a potential investor soon and would like to have as much information as possible.  imo this email is further proof of the fact that we agreed to begin work, am i wrong?

i had sent an email to them on the outlining the structure of my work and my requested compensation. i also requested feedback on the plan. (to be honest i did quote a really high price, but it was a negotiation, i also specifically said it  would be a starting point for discussion on compensation.) i got a confirmation that they received the emails on 6/21.

this is where it gets tricky. i know in theory that i shouldn't have assumed anything, and waited until i got confirmation from them regarding pay. (lesson learned). the thing is i really honestly believed we were moving forward, so it didn't really phase me.  is this going to be a problem if i go to small claims court.

on 7/1 i sent another email with more information, and asking to finalize the details about pay.  my contact told me that the owner was out of town and would be back after the holiday (7/4).  when i didn't hear from them on 7/8 i received another email, stating that my requested compensation was too high, and they would be in touch.

obvs i was pissed. not about the compensation, i expected them to say it was too high. however the email was super vague, and they already had my work product, so it's not like i still held any cards. they said they wanted a 3 page business plan. (who submits a 3 page business plan to investors?) anyway i called them to express my concern. after a lot of back and forth i finally spoke to the owner on 7/12 at which point he then said that the work i submitted was not valuable to them. this got me even more upset b/c not only did i request feedback, i followed the format they laid out in our meeting, and told them the path i was taking several times. i feel like they are trying to weasel out of paying me!

in the phone convo. the owner asked if i could gather some information on business plans so he could look at them. i said sure, but also said that i would not be submitting anymore work until i got paid. i sent another email to follow up including my price, and responding to his comments regarding the work already submitted.

long story short today i get an email saying they don't need my services and aren't going to pay me for the work i've already done.

as i said i want to take them to small claims court. i don't know how much evidence you need but i have all our emails, and a copy of a "Product Requirements Document."  this is the document i used to structure my work.

any thoughts? i'm sooooo mad right now, b/c i essentially counted on this project to fund my summer and am now dead broke.

i sent another ema

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Cortney1982


Chanel

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Posts: 3178
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I would be pissed!  It looks as though they were hoping to get the work done on the cheap.  I hate to say this, but perhaps you should have talked pay before you gave them anything!

Did you spend a lot of time on this project?  Is it okay to tell them unless they pay you a reasonable amount that you'll take them to small claims? 

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erin


Chanel

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Posts: 3274
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do oral contracts hold up in new york? otherwise you might be sol. :(

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cahabo


Kate Spade

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Posts: 1052
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I've sued someone in small claims court. I didn't have any real evidence, just my word. I believe from the time it took to file my claim it took about four months to have the appointment with the mediator then maybe another month until we had a court date in front of a judge. If they don't show up to court you automatically are awarded your claim. I think the e-mails are plenty of evidence that you had an agreement to do work for them. Good for you for saving them! I also think that just because they think the work isn't valuable to them (which is most likely a lie), doesn't mean that they don't have to pay you. I would give them a warning though that if they don't compensate you that you will sue them. If they don't then definitely take it to court. Good luck!

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cinderella4282


BCBG

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Posts: 234
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It's easy to say that your work isn't valuable when they already have it and there is no way for you to provde that they aren't using it.

I think with the information provided you have plenty of grounds to sue for compensation. It's especially convenient how they dragged you along while you were working on the document and once they had it, they then decided to reject your request for compensation and terminate your services. Very very sketchy.

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BargainQueen


Marc Jacobs

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Posts: 2001
Date:
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I think the emails are enough info to take them to small claims. At the very least they need to pay you for the services you provided whether or not they decided to use it in the end. Its part of the risk of business and that doesnt mean the because it didnt work for them it means the work is free. You shouldn't let them get away with that. Good Luck!

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