I am an independent contractor and until yesterday, was working under a contract to edit 4 chapters of a book for a client. He just told me that he does not want to continue as his editor.
The contract we signed in February specifies the per-page rate and covers up to 3 rounds of revision for each chapter, if necessary. A little more than half of the work has been performed under what is mentioned in the contract (Chapter 1: more than 50% [Client asked to stop work on that chapter and return to it later]; Chapter 2: 75%; Chapter 3: 30%-40%; Chapter 4: 0% [Client had not yet provided me with the final draft to be edited.])In addition, because the client did not follow the standard procedure and sent me a file (Chapter 2) that did not include track-changes, substantial additional work (not included in the contract) was also performed. I have two e-mails from him stating that he would pay for this work (one of them states his agreement with the fee I mentioned for the additional work). He also said in a meeting that he would pay for the additional work as well, and the contract specifically states that if the revisions involve substantial additions of text, compensation would need to be provided (but it does not specify how much).
To date, one large payment as a retainer has been made; the retainer was meant to cover the major part of the work, and a small balance was supposed to be paid March 2nd (but the client postponed work on Chapters 1 and 2 as he needed more time.) I did not do an amendment to the contract.
Also, there is no cancellation clause or language in the contract that spells out what is due in the event that the client would terminate my services, or if I would quit.
The issue now is that I need to send the client a final invoice for the balance due. My question is the following: Now that the client has terminated my services, do I have the right to charge him for the full value of the original contract (plus the fee for the additional work performed referenced above)? That is, given that I did not finish editing any of the Chapters because the client is not giving me the opportunity to do so, am I entitled to the full amount of the fee anyway? Or alternatively, do I only have the right to charge him for the work that has actually been completed?
I should also mention that in the last week as we've been having some issues, specifically with the work process and communication, I suggested (strongly suggested) to the client that we adopt a more systematic work process that I wrote up and sent him. I said that quite frankly if he wasn't willing or able to work on that basis, it might be necessary for him to look for another editor. I realize that this kind of statement could be interpreted as a condition for my continuing the work, but I didn't say that I was definitely quitting the project or when I would actually stop editing. I really hadn't decided, but I was serious about doing something about the very confusing, inefficient work process that was slowing down the work. In an e-mail, the client says I offered the option of not continuing, in a way trying to blame me. But I do have it clearly in writing from his side that he was the one discontinuing my services and that I was still willing to continue. To make matters worse, the client (who is a non-native English speaker confuses quite a lot of things, and is quick to try to use that as an excuse). But now that he has terminated my services, which has financial repercussions for me (and I also turned down other work in order to continue working on his project), I feel have to obtain what is my due.
So, can you please advise me on what I can legally charge this client, considering that he is not giving me the opportunity to perform all of the work covered by the contract? Thank you very much for your help.
The contract we signed in February specifies the per-page rate and covers up to 3 rounds of revision for each chapter, if necessary. A little more than half of the work has been performed under what is mentioned in the contract (Chapter 1: more than 50% [Client asked to stop work on that chapter and return to it later]; Chapter 2: 75%; Chapter 3: 30%-40%; Chapter 4: 0% [Client had not yet provided me with the final draft to be edited.])In addition, because the client did not follow the standard procedure and sent me a file (Chapter 2) that did not include track-changes, substantial additional work (not included in the contract) was also performed. I have two e-mails from him stating that he would pay for this work (one of them states his agreement with the fee I mentioned for the additional work). He also said in a meeting that he would pay for the additional work as well, and the contract specifically states that if the revisions involve substantial additions of text, compensation would need to be provided (but it does not specify how much).
To date, one large payment as a retainer has been made; the retainer was meant to cover the major part of the work, and a small balance was supposed to be paid March 2nd (but the client postponed work on Chapters 1 and 2 as he needed more time.) I did not do an amendment to the contract.
Also, there is no cancellation clause or language in the contract that spells out what is due in the event that the client would terminate my services, or if I would quit.
The issue now is that I need to send the client a final invoice for the balance due. My question is the following: Now that the client has terminated my services, do I have the right to charge him for the full value of the original contract (plus the fee for the additional work performed referenced above)? That is, given that I did not finish editing any of the Chapters because the client is not giving me the opportunity to do so, am I entitled to the full amount of the fee anyway? Or alternatively, do I only have the right to charge him for the work that has actually been completed?
I should also mention that in the last week as we've been having some issues, specifically with the work process and communication, I suggested (strongly suggested) to the client that we adopt a more systematic work process that I wrote up and sent him. I said that quite frankly if he wasn't willing or able to work on that basis, it might be necessary for him to look for another editor. I realize that this kind of statement could be interpreted as a condition for my continuing the work, but I didn't say that I was definitely quitting the project or when I would actually stop editing. I really hadn't decided, but I was serious about doing something about the very confusing, inefficient work process that was slowing down the work. In an e-mail, the client says I offered the option of not continuing, in a way trying to blame me. But I do have it clearly in writing from his side that he was the one discontinuing my services and that I was still willing to continue. To make matters worse, the client (who is a non-native English speaker confuses quite a lot of things, and is quick to try to use that as an excuse). But now that he has terminated my services, which has financial repercussions for me (and I also turned down other work in order to continue working on his project), I feel have to obtain what is my due.
So, can you please advise me on what I can legally charge this client, considering that he is not giving me the opportunity to perform all of the work covered by the contract? Thank you very much for your help.
