What do I do if I worked for someone and now they will not pay me?

Both state and federal law require employers to pay their employees, and provide for attorney fees to be awarded to successful plaintiffs. When I have handled these cases, the amount of attorneys fees the defendants end up paying often dwarf the amount of unpaid wages. As a result, an attorney may be willing to take on good cases of this sort with minimal retainers. In order to seek payment under those laws you will need to have some evidence that you were an employee and that you performed work. Sometimes the employee's testimony alone is sufficient to do this, but check stubs and time cards often are useful.