James..

The good thing about law school is that the emotions one may have are drilled out of the system. Then again, there are those here that would say that I was a rather unfeeling person in the beginning; perhaps well suited to the legal profession! < bg >

First off, you are justified in your feelings in that it was not right for the person to drop you. You know, the hard part of a project is the development of the specs. Perhaps the people the client had in mind to do the actual programming could not create a spec to save their life.

This is where liquidated damages come into play. You could have and a provision that stated you would get x dollars over and above your time if they drop you before the actual programming work commences. If the other party bargains for and assents to that, you are in good shape when you then have to go to court to seek relief. Again, had I been your lawyer, I would have advised you to do just that.

Quite frankley, you were paid for the work you were provided. Because you have nothing else in writing, you need to ask the hard question of whether it is worth the legal expense in fighting. You are not going to get specific performance - having the court force the guy to have you do the work. That simply won't work. As for monetary damages, if you get money and don't do the work, are you not unjustly enriched since it is something the other party did not bargain for. You see, the bargain is the key. If the other party bargains to pay you regardless of whether you do the work, there is no problem from the court's point of view.

The issue is one of fairness in the eyes of the law. Fortunately, you have learned a lesson without it costing you any money here. Learn from this, apply it to the future, and get on with your life! Unlike the 6000 + souls that lost their lives on 9/11, guys like you and I will have the opportunity to go forward. I know that sounds like a downer, but the recent events have put a lot of things in perspective for me.


Take care...