Q: I live in VA and I worked as a consultant for a company in Florida, and they are not paying me for work performed
I live in VA and I worked as a consultant for a company in Florida, and they are not paying me for work performed totaling over $10k - do I sue them in Virginia or Florida? And if VA which court?
A:
It's not a clear-cut answer whether you can sue the company in Virginia because it can depend on what the company's contacts are with Virginia.
What is a safe bet that they can be sued in Florida since they are a Florida company, presumably engaging in business in Florida.
But to be sued in Virginia, they would need to show that they have some meaningful contacts with the state. Your consultancy work, if mostly related to business activities elsewhere other than Virginia, will probably not be sufficient alone. Just because you might have worked from home, unless the company paid for most of the home office vendor agreements, it may not be enough for a court to justify allowing you to sue them here.
For a $10,000 debt, it's probably a good investment to pay for a consultation with a Virginia attorney with all the specifics of your possible case, even if you do not end up retaining the attorney to pursue the case in court.
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