Companies that do not pay their freelancers

Hi! I'm a freelance designer and I need your (legal) help/opinion. I have a client that won't pay me for the work I did for them. Backstory, I was tapped by a writer/friend to work on a project for Company RTC. We didn't have a contract since my friend was my connection in this project, and had done a similar project with them the previous year. It was designing (3-4) print and digital ads per month, for 6 months. After submitting my invoice billing, they would no longer reply to my emails. Is there a law protecting freelancers from such companies? Thank you and God bless.

Yes, though you may not be considered an employee (you're a freelancer), you are nevertheless protected by the law on contracts. https://www.alburovillanueva.com/contracts Contracts may come in any form, so even verbal agreements are binding upon the parties. The challenge for you now, however, is proving the terms and conditions agreed upon considering that it was not reduced into writing. If you have email, text messages, or some other electronic or written conversation that would show the terms that you decided upon, then you may use those.

Do you have proof they used your designs? after you send a demand letter, consider a small claims case so you don't need a lawyer

attyLLL wrote:Do you have proof they used your designs? after you send a demand letter, consider a small claims case so you don't need a lawyer

Yes, all my designs are posted in their website. I also have the final/original files.

arnoldventura wrote:Yes, though you may not be considered an employee (you're a freelancer), you are nevertheless protected by the law on contracts. Contracts may come in any form, so even verbal agreements are binding upon the parties. The challenge for you now, however, is proving the terms and conditions agreed upon considering that it was not reduced into writing. If you have email, text messages, or some other electronic or written conversation that would show the terms that you decided upon, then you may use those.

I don't have any messages (sms or email) stating the terms and conditions since it was my friend who talks to the client, so I do not directly coordinate nor communicate with the client during project development. It was only after billing when my friend endorsed me to the client. They initially asked my friend to negotiate and asked me if I can still lower the total agreed amount (post projects) because the boss' (lame) reason was she didn't know how to justify the amount to her partners, which I find very weird since they agreed to the cost per project, and they asked us to produce 3-4 ads every month for 6 months. I didn't charge them for excessive revisions, tight lead time and additional illustrations anymore. I really don't know what to do next. Weird and sad lang since they are an established and known financial/legal firm.