[amorphid]

I had a deadbeat client who owed me about $10K. What I really wanted to do was sue, make his life miserable, call his investors, etc. But in the end, I just walked away. He'd burned through all of his money, and I didn't actually hate the guy. And I'd be happy to work with him again, if he pays in advance. :)

Life is too short to get hung up on small hiccups.

[Iv]

I had a deadbeat client in Japan. I did want to walk away but my Japanese wife did not. She declared that unacceptable from a Japanese company. The procedure was surprisingly straightforward. When the person refused to come to trial, we were authorized to walk in with a legal specialist to seize down assets, only to find out that the guy had just been evicted by his landlord and all the physical assets already seized.

[throwawayz]

funny my wife offered to do the exact same thing almost and call him at home ( found the # online! ) and really lay it on him how he's stealing food from our kid's mouth.

[amorphid]

If I had a crusading wife, there's no way I'd get between her and someone who owed money to the family's primary source of income. :)

That being said, for me it doesn't make a lot of sense to sue someone without money. That is just throwing more time and money down a hole. It was more productive to learn from the experience, adjust client engagement process to reduce the chance it'd happen again, and move on.

[abrookewood]

There's a lot to be said for this approach - chasing hard for small amounts of money can do terrible things to your mental state.

[bbulkow]

Interestingly, for some people, letting go of the money without a fight is psychologically wrecking as well. It can eat away at you, make you question yourself.

The question in my mind is what kind of person are you, or if you have someone in your circle ( like the wife in question ), and have them do the chasing, just for their own well being. I like that option here - not knowing you or your wife, so maybe I am all wrong - because then she won't be carping after you.

[amorphid]

In the learning to let go department, if you have a hard time letting go, I think it is totally worth trying to get the money. Eventually you get it, or become so exhausted, you just wanna give up. Then you just reflect on how it went, and get better at deciding how to proceed in the future.