I’m a consultant who has done work, in New York, for a client located in California.
You are not my attorney, etc.
Amount in dispute is between $5000 and $10000, closer to the $5000 end.
What is the appropriate venue to file a claim? Can this be done in small claims court? If so does it need to be filed in CALIFORNIA small claims court? Or can it be filed in NY small claims court.
Bottom line – get a lawyer.
I’ve done out of state consulting before. Read your contract. There should be a clause in there stating the jurisdiction the contract falls under. If it doesn’t have that and if the client doesn’t have any assets you could attach in NY, you’ll probably end up having to go to court in CA. And I wouldn’t mess around with small claims court if the amount in dispute is over 5K since the defendant could easily appeal if they lose, and then you’ll just end up in superior court with a regular civil suit, needing a lawyer. Just having a lawyer communicating to the client make make the client more likely to settle.
Bottom line – get a lawyer.
This is a request for legal advice. Lawyers are better equipped for providing such advice than teeming millions are. Get a lawyer.
If you did your work in New York, you can probably file a claim in either state. However, as I’ve found out, just because a court rules in your favor doesn’t mean the guy is going to pay. That can sometimes be the harder part of the deal.
Let’s say you filed a claim in New York, and the client has no New York assets. The client doesn’t show up in court, the court rules against the client. Can you get the client to pay? What tools do you have to force the client to pay you? That would be the $64,000,000 question.
Well, the $5,000 to $10,000 question.