[consultutah]

The op has, hopefully, learned a valuable lesson: don't work without a signed contract.

That said, the comp should have just paid or, at very least, tried to negotiate the amount thought I don't think that's worth the effort either. This is such a paltry amount as to not be worth the effort to fight.

[ww520]

People have reneged on signed contracts. A signed contract is not a foolproof protection for your payment. You just have a better case when going to court, which will cost you money. Also a verbal agreement is a binding contract.

[smackfu]

The other lesson people may take away is don't do contract work for startups.

[Silhouette]

The thing is, this can (and sometimes does) happen with larger and better established businesses too.

A common rule of thumb in the design industry is that if the amount of fees in question isn't going to be worth going to court over, then a 50% deposit paid up-front is a reasonable request.

[veemjeem]

Are emails legally binding in CA? See here:

http://www.linkedin.com/answers/law-legal/corporate-law/cont...