u/Ok-Locksmith-8940

Throwaway account.

Facts as neutrally as I can put them:
•. Worked through a consulting/staffing company in California for several years, ending earlier this year. On H-1B throughout.
• Pay structure: W-2 payroll ran at the required wage, and the rest of my agreed share of the client bill rate accrued as a running "balance" to be settled later.
• Earlier this year, someone on their finance side sent me their own reconciliation spreadsheet. It puts the balance owed to me in the low five figures.
• They have acknowledged owing it in writing several times. A large share of the deductions on their own sheet are "legal fees" with no invoices ever provided. If those came off, the amount owed roughly doubles.
• Their sheet also shows a significant block of hours worked with regular pay recorded as zero.

Questions:
1. Is a DLSE wage claim the right route here, or does the contract element argue for a civil suit instead?
2. Are charges and unexplained legal fees lawful deductions from wages in California or even on a federal level?
3. The company appears to have no cash. Does that change the strategy, or create any urgency about filing?
If attorney recommendations are allowed here, I am in California and looking.

I have decided to go the DOL route
A quick overview:
I worked remotely from California for a IT consultancy for a few years on H-1B. They placed me at client sites and billed those clients, but never cleared the balance they owed me - there's a documented unpaid amount plus some deductions on their reconciliation sheet that look questionable. It's all in writing: offer letter, a rate sheet where they repeatedly committed to pay and then missed every deadline.
What I need is an attorney who genuinely understands H-1B — prevailing wage / LCA obligations, benching, illegal cost-shifting deductions - not just a general wage-and-hour firm. From what I've read, that's a narrow specialty and the wrong lawyer misses half the claim.
One wrinkle: I'm in California (did the work here), but the company is incorporated in different states. So someone comfortable with a multi-state setup would be ideal.

If you've personally worked with an H-1B-savvy employment attorney in California — I'd really appreciate a name. Also open to hearing whether people went the DOL route, state route, or straight to a demand letter, and how it went.
Thanks 🙏

I have decided to go the DOL route
A quick overview:
I worked remotely from California for a IT consultancy for a few years on H-1B. They placed me at client sites and billed those clients, but never cleared the balance they owed me - there's a documented unpaid amount plus some deductions on their reconciliation sheet that look questionable. It's all in writing: offer letter, a rate sheet where they repeatedly committed to pay and then missed every deadline.
What I need is an attorney who genuinely understands H-1B — prevailing wage / LCA obligations, benching, illegal cost-shifting deductions - not just a general wage-and-hour firm. From what I've read, that's a narrow specialty and the wrong lawyer misses half the claim.
One wrinkle: I'm in California (did the work here), but the company is incorporated in different states. So someone comfortable with a multi-state setup would be ideal.

If you've personally worked with an H-1B-savvy employment attorney in California — I'd really appreciate a name. Also open to hearing whether people went the DOL route, state route, or straight to a demand letter, and how it went.
Thanks 🙏