Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Can I sue for Punative Damages in civil court for unpaid personal services i

No. Punitive damages are limited to intentional tort actions. You have a breach of contract action. All of your costs and expenses are recoverable. If there is a provision for attorney fees in the contract, then you can get that too.

Re: Can I sue for Punative Damages in civil court for unpaid personal services i

Most generally, you will not recover punitive damages in CA civil court. Assuming the contract was oral, you can sue for (among a few other causes of action) breach of oral contract (breach of oral contracts have a two year statute of limitations from the date of breach). This means that you need to file the action with the court before the second anniversary of the date of breach. If the contract was in writing, then you would sue for (among other causes of action) breach of contract (which has a 4 year statute of limitations).

Generally, again, you will only receive attorney's fees if you agreed to this provision (i.e. an attorney's fees clause) with the other party in writing.

Since your anticipated award amount is $8,000 and you are limited to a $5,000 award in Small Claims Court, you need to decide whether to bring this action on your own behalf or have an attorney represent you in this action. Unless you are willing to pay the attorney at his/her hourly rate, the attorney will typically charge you 33% of the amount of any settlement amount/award. Good luck and let me know if I may be of any further assistance.

Best regards,

David Bolls.

Re: Can I sue for Punative Damages in civil court for unpaid personal services i

Unless you can prove they intended to defraud you by failing to pay the invoices you cannot sue for punitive damages. However you can sue for breach of contract, court fees and possibly attorney's fees. I actually specialize in entertainment law and contract law which is exactly the type of case you have. I have won lawsuits against several recording studios for clients in situations very like your own. It helps that I am a musician myself and have delt with music companies for the past twenty years. I might be able to help you on a contingency basis so you wouldn't have to worry about up front fees and we may be able to collect the fees from the studio. I would have to see the documentation you have before I could tell what you could sue for. Feel free to email me with with any additional information you have on the contract and I will let you know what you can sue for. My main office is in San Luis Obispo, but I have satellite offices in the Bay Area, LA and Fresno.

I look forward to hearing from you.

John Hayes, Esq.