Obviously you need to talk to a real lawyer. We, the random folks in the audience, can't tell who has what case unless we know what the contract says. It could

Obviously you need to talk to a real lawyer. We, the random folks in the audience, can't tell who has what case unless we know what the contract says. It could say anything. And it could say different things to a lawyer than it does to you. If you signed a fixed-price contract, I can't see how you're going to be able to collect more than the total price of the contract, nor can I see how "lost wages/loss of time" comes into it. You're paid based on deliverables. If the site is literally finished except that the client refuses to accept delivery, it's probably fair to bill the client for 100% of the agreed amount, and to sue if they won't pay; otherwise, it's quite likely that the contract says that you're entitled only to the deposit. This is the scenario that deposits are designed for. Again, though, IANAL and I haven't read your contract. The moral here is: Work only so long as your client has a pulse. Ping the client regularly, and if you ping the client and nothing comes back... stop working and start sending out reminders/dire warnings instead ("if you do not send X I cannot do any more work") until the client responds. Contracting is risky work. That's why fixed-price contracts need to be marked up significantly.