I fought a long and expensive legal battle all throughout college, which I eventually won. I was able to get 50% pro-bono rates because I had started a 501(c)3

I fought a long and expensive legal battle all throughout college, which I eventually won. I was able to get 50% pro-bono rates because I had started a 501(c)3 non-profit that had a related interest in the case. I once avoiding having to hire an attorney to sue a non-paying client by suing the company myself in small claims court for $30 in fees. You can't file anything electronically, and the courts like old-fashioned cash or checks payments in person, so it's anathema to the ways high-tech entrepreneurs, but it worked. I got a check for the remaining amount the next day; the other company simply didn't want to show up for court. Writing blunt letters to the CEOs of large companies can be effective. I've saved thousands of dollars in costs by writing letters. I inadvertently ended up altering the manufacturing process for a well-known company's blade servers, as well. Writing blunt letters to lawyers who overbill you can also be effective. I've been billed for other clients' time, billed double for a new attorney to join a case due to the original attorney having to go on maternity leave, billed for "this isn't my area of expertise" as advice, etc. The law firm may not agree to work with you again afterward, but they won't make you pay if you have a point. After all, they have bigger fish to fry. Gold and platinum credit cards have extended warranty programs that will usually take care of issues with faulty equipment that would otherwise probably require a lawsuit to actually gain anything. I've saved several thousand dollars thanks to such programs, as well. Lastly, I was able to borrow some standard agreements from my family business.