Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Business sells pirated software, non-payment of service, and more.

follow mr. whipple's advice. and make sure your friend takes a business course or two, or reads a book on the basics of conducting business.

Re: Business sells pirated software, non-payment of service, and more.

Your friend actually posted this question themself. I informed that person that there is a valid claim, even if only verbal. The statute of limitations on a verbal agreement is 1 year.

(I am the attorney who responded that I also build sites in my "free" time.)

If the claim, as you state, is under $5000 then it is a small claims matter. If it is over that amount then your friend will need to file in Superior Court.

I also informed your friend that I can be contacted directly, if more assisance is needed, at 626-578-0708. I can also be reached through one of my sites at www.CorporateProtectionServices.com

Scott

Re: Business sells pirated software, non-payment of service, and more.

Well, first, it's very difficult to follow the play-by-play in your scenario because it's all in the third person and expressed with pronouns "he" and "she." Why is the friend writing to LawGuru rather than a principal? Also, who is the contractor and who is the client? It's very unclear whether "he" is the client or the contractor, or whether "he" or "she" is the injured party with the potential claim. Re-read your own question and the ambiguity should appear.

My advice is that whichever participant in this deal feels he (or she) got the fuzzy end of the lollipop should get a self-help law book on small claims procedure, and take the matter there.

The legal principles the true parties to this dispute should be aware of include:

(1) oral (i.e., "verbal") contracts for this sort of thing are valid and enforceable;

(2) in court, especially small claims, witness credibility is the key to winning. You need not only a good story, you need witnesses or evidence that impresses the judge as believable and on point.

(3) Pirated software may not be all that relevant in this plaintiff's case. If the software copyright owner were a party, it's another ball game, but in a suit between X and Y over consulting service fees the fact that Y may have pirated Z's software doesn't help X's case and may be inadmissible character evidence. X cannot introduce evidence of Y's shady character to show that Y was more likely than not to have cheated X. X's case against Y must stand on its own two feet.

(4) Anyone who agrees to work for another without specifying a price or a pricing formula is a fool, but these situations do arise. There are (at least) two possible legal outcomes: (a) the court may decide a contract exists and infer an agreement to pay a particular rate or amount based upon facts and circumstances, including customary pricing in the industry; (b) the court may decide that there was no contract because the negotiations were too vague for a binding agreement to have arisen, but will nevertheless require the recipient of the services to pay the fair value thereof to avoid an "unjust enrichment" of the beneficiary. This is a so-called quasi-contract situation.

The aggrieved party should buy a self-help law book on how to win your case in small claims and follow the instructions.