Thanks John... good comments. As I said in my original post these things 'sound' like common sense, but it is very easy to get personal and let the kinds of things you mentioned happen. I know I spend a great deal of time with some of my clients, and their personnel. It is difficult sometimes to stay strictly professional (not sure that sounded the way I mean it, but you get the idea). This guy that I talked about is a damn good programmer, does some amazing things with C++, but he's not very business like and has trouble separating things sometimes. I'm not slamming him at all really, he's personable and is a good friend. His story just reminded me where I stand and I thought it might be of interest to the group here.

>This topic has caused me start another thread.....3 Types of Consultants
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>>True... he never got close enough to find out... ya just never know!
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>>>On the other hand, maybe the client meant to take advantage of him in the same way others had tried to do, and dropped him after the conversation revealed that he wouldn't be easily cheated. Maybe your friend is well rid of them.