This happened a few times at a previous employer's. It usually wasn't worth it to take them to court, and since we also hosted their website, after a certain time, we'd simply take down their website and e-mail accounts.
About half of the non-paying clients suddenly found room in their budget to pay us for our work and hosting fees. Funny how that works, but unfortunately, that doesn't work for design firms. :/
A lot of freelancers and small artists are afraid to be "aggressive" by asking for a contract.
This is the same dynamic as occurs when someone is young and eager and underprices his or her services. It doesn't make people like you or get you respect. It leads people to take advantage.
Always get a contract. And everyone who works independently in any context needs to watch or listen to the video. (I'm doing that right now.) It's worth the 38 minutes.
He talks a bit about the importance of getting the right stuff into the contract. E.g. forcing the client to pay your legal bills if you have to drag the contract to court to get them to pay you, and termination fees if they cancel the project without a good reason.
