Legal Question in Business Law in California

You just need to take her to small claims court and show the work you performed and the invoice. It would be better if you had some paper trail confirming that you were hired to do the work and the agreed price. In the future you need to have some proposal form that the customer signs to create a written contract before you start work. You may even want a down payment. Good luck!

Unfortunately, you're in a "he-said-she-said" position (please let this teach you to ALWAYS have written agreements, signed by both parties, with your clients from now on).

The offered $500 is sum certain at this point (it's an insult, I know, but money is money). You need to decide whether pursuing your whole payment is worth the risk to you. Before you file a lawsuit, I'd try to negotiate with your ex-client and (a) find out what, exactly, she thinks is wrong with the website (LISTEN when she answers this question; she may have a point) and (b) make a counteroffer to her $500 which is less than your $2000 but that you'd be willing to settle for.

You may end up suing your client for the $2K in small claims court, producing the website as evidence of the work you did in reliance on her representation that you would be paid the $2K, and demanding a judgment for your payment in full.

Your ex-client will argue that your work is substandard and that she never agreed to pay you $2K.

There is no signed writing memorializing the agreement, so the judge will decide that issue between you based on who is most believable. You may get the whole $2K, you may get a lesser amount, or you may get nothing. That's the risk of litigation.

In New York (where I'm licensed), litigants in small claims do not need attorneys; whether they do in California depends on that state's court rules. I cannot advise you there.

THIS POST CONTAINS GENERAL INFORMATION AND IS INTENDED FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE, NOR DOES IT CREATE ANY ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. FOR LEGAL ADVICE ON YOUR PARTICULAR MATTER, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.