>My take is that although the reference was made through a fellow UT member and an agreement was sealed with a "handshake", nothing replaces doing business "in writing", especially with new clients. That being said, and unfortunately not the case here, there probably isn't much more you can do but pester him for payment and hope he grows tired and relents. Otherwise, chalk it up to experience.

We don't know the exact circumstances, but it seems there *is* an agreement (at 1/2 price). As long as some sort of documentation can be shown to a judge it should be enforceable. This is small-claims stuff we're talking about - just getting legal papers started (or the threat thereof) ought to get things rolling.