Hmmm, I have found that collecting on large personal loans is
*always* a problem. I think this is due to the fact that most
who would borrow anything substantial in the first place probably
have poor money management skills and may never have enought
float to pay their debts. 

Taking a friend to court could be the end of the friendship. I 
guess you'll have to weight the value of the friend next to the
value of the loan. I know in our situation, we have done a 
amnesty to all the folks who owed us as a New Year's present 
and just went ahead and forgave the debt. Natually, we never
thought we'd see the money anyway to it's not as generous as
you might think, but it feels good to just write it off and 
not be upset about it. That's the other negative to going to 
court is that it could do more harm to you in stress and 
emotional taxation than it's worth.

Another strategy we've used is to get loans paid back in the form
of trade. One friend has been making us DAT tapes from all the
killer music shows he goes to and that has resulted in quite an
amazing live music collection! Maybe your friend has a special
talent, skill or something that could be used to square off the
debt. In anycase, good luck! In the future you may wish to 
consider the Sam Malone (from cheers) method of *never* expecting
to have personal loans paid back and only loan money you can
afford to kiss goodbye! :-)