In addition to the advice that's given here, make sure you detach yourself from both the process and the outcome as soon as possible.
After you had your lawyer send them an angry letter (twice) and you haven't got your money after two months, you need to emotionally accept that the money is likely gone, and make sure that you are mentally capable of focusing on ensuring your financial stability.
Either set an automated mail to remind them what they owe if it's a small amount of money (i.e. less than 5k) and if it's more ask your lawyer if they or someone they know can handle the case on a fixed price basis.
And then move on. Non paying clients absolutely suck. I haven't had one that didn't pay at all (though some very late payers), but I've had friends tell stories and it can wreck your freelance experience. If you let them get to you then you'll lose the feeling of freedom and all advantages of freelancing. Accept that it's part of the game and account for it in your financial planning. If you don't the stress will eventually kill all enjoyment of being a freelancer.
(Btw, I don't mean give up. Just dissociate from the outcome. If the only fee your lawyer would take is 100%, still do it to f with the lousy client.)
I've recently dealt with this over a 8 month period, and it was mentally exhausting. I wish I would’ve just accepted the money to be lost, and let a lawyer deal with it, but instead spend 8 frustrating months trying to deal with it.
In the end I lost far more money than just what my client owed me. For months I couldn’t focus on work, and just wasn’t mentally able to find new clients.
I think, even if you pass it over to a small claims process, setting timelines helps here.
For example, send a demand letter with a response time. Typical is to give a couple of weeks or some such.
Then set an alarm in your phone's calendar and drop it from mind.
Treat it as any other deliverable. And if you can do small claims court, even better. Typically no lawyers allowed, amd again, you file and serve, then set a calendar.
“No lawyers allowed” isn’t likely to be the case if you sue a corporation or other business association, which by law in my state at least may not be represented by an individual unless that individual is an attorney.
That being said I have not sued a corporation in small claims court so I’m not really sure who would show up.
At least for me, the worrying would never stop. Even when I send letters with clear deliverables and timelines, I would just find myself worrying and getting angry over the whole situation.
The only time it stopped was after about 7 months, when we finally signed a settlement agreement. But then it all started again when no payment came in.
I’m not sure how the other party felt about all this, but to be on the receiving end of it all is horrible, and maybe just accepting the money is lost would’ve been better in the end.
In Russia, if it is a foreign client, the OP would have been fined by the government for the amount that the client owes him, now that the OP publicly admitted the non-payment. This is done because there was a tax evasion scheme based on allegedly-unpaid invoices from foreign "customers". So it is already 300% of losses (100% due to the unpaid debt plus 100% from the fine plus 100% from the lawyer).
Maybe you can deduct unpaid invoices from your business income. Get enough of those and you don't owe any taxes. And if the government tries to figure out why your client isn't paying, they can't because they're foreign.
In the UK that would be very simple. Send statutory demand, let's say give 21 days to pay and tell the company if they don't you'll file a winding-up petition to the court (basically if company can't pay its debts it will be closed).
Be pragmatic and move on (mentally), and don't make it personal nor seek revenge. I'm sure it would be tempting to make them suffer like you have, but if doing so will make you worse off then you already are (be it financially or emotionally), what's the point.
Accept the base line outcome is zero, don't make it less than that and anything extra is a bonus.
Persue it, dispassionately but persue it, not for revenge but for the good of everyone else including your own future self.
It is not long term thinking to to just absorb such things in my opinion. It must cost the perpetrator enough that the most selfish unprincipled business animal decides that even for purely selfish reasons, they gain the most by avoiding triggering such suits.
>you need to emotionally accept that the money is likely gone, and make sure that you are mentally capable of focusing on ensuring your financial stability.
Good advice.
And also understand that it's possible they can't pay. That's not an excuse, and doesn't mean you shouldn't pursue restitution. But the reality is: shit happens.
After you had your lawyer send them an angry letter (twice) and you haven't got your money after two months, you need to emotionally accept that the money is likely gone, and make sure that you are mentally capable of focusing on ensuring your financial stability.
Either set an automated mail to remind them what they owe if it's a small amount of money (i.e. less than 5k) and if it's more ask your lawyer if they or someone they know can handle the case on a fixed price basis.
And then move on. Non paying clients absolutely suck. I haven't had one that didn't pay at all (though some very late payers), but I've had friends tell stories and it can wreck your freelance experience. If you let them get to you then you'll lose the feeling of freedom and all advantages of freelancing. Accept that it's part of the game and account for it in your financial planning. If you don't the stress will eventually kill all enjoyment of being a freelancer.
(Btw, I don't mean give up. Just dissociate from the outcome. If the only fee your lawyer would take is 100%, still do it to f with the lousy client.)