Lol setting aside the joke, and of course if you don’t pay you won’t have a case, but if you had paid I think there would be some statutory rights that would make a claim straightforward and wouldn’t require a lawyer. Small claims is a pretty universal concept regardless of jurisdiction, the limit varies but everywhere has some similar avenue. Filing fees are small and lawyers are not usually involved, just two parties and a judge, and these days it can be done remotely.