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It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. |
| | "As a litigant, I should dread a lawsuit beyond almost anything short of sickness and death." - J. Learned Hand |
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< | I have been party to a civil lawsuit only once. Though the stakes were low, and the venue as plebeian as one can find in Manhattan, the experience colored an impression that judicial outcomes have as much to do with the parties to the suit as they do with facts or the law as applied to them. |
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> | I have been party to a civil lawsuit only once. Though the stakes were insignificant, and the venue as plebeian as one can find in Manhattan, the experience showed that judicial outcomes can have as much to do with the parties to the suit as they do with facts or the law as applied to them. |
| | Using the court to right a wrong |
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< | Six years ago, I moved to New York to start my life after college. With haste, I signed a short-term sublease in Brooklyn until I could afford my own lease in Manhattan. Three months later, I found a flat, and gave my sublessor notice of my departure. I expected the return of the security deposit equal to two months' rent I had paid upon moving in. When moving day came, she explained that she would only be able to reimburse half of my deposit. She assured me the other half would come soon. As we had become friends during my stay there, I trusted her to repay me and moved on. |
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> | Six years ago, I moved to New York to start my life after college. With haste, I secured a short-term sublease in Brooklyn until I could afford my own lease in Manhattan. Three months later, I found a flat in Chelsea, and gave my sublessor notice of my departure. I expected the return of the security deposit equal to two months' rent I had paid upon moving in. When moving day came, she explained that she would only be able to reimburse half of my deposit. She assured me the other half would come soon. As we had become friends during my stay there, I trusted her to repay me and moved on. |
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< | A year later, I was still without the money. I was amazed at the efficacy with which she had dodged my requests. I did manage to corner her once, reaching a compromise to put her on a monthly payment plan, but after receiving a single $100 payment, she again disappeared. I almost let her get away with it too; my parents were both small-business owners, and I empathized with her status as an entrepreneur of modest means. However, once I learned she had taken in sublessees after me who had received their deposits in full, empathy turned to antipathy. I would recover the money not because I needed it, but principle demanded that I do so. |
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> | A year later, I was still without the money. I was amazed at the efficacy with which she had dodged my requests. I did manage to corner her once, reaching a compromise to put her on a monthly payment plan, but after receiving a single $100 payment, she again disappeared. I almost let her get away with it too; my parents both ran their own businesses, and I empathized with her position as a small-business owner of modest means. However, once I learned she had taken in sublessees after me who had received their deposits in full, empathy turned to antipathy. I would recover the money not because I desperately needed it, but principle demanded that I do so. |
| | Filing with the court |
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< | I used my lunch break to take the train downtown to Centre Street. Three hours and $15 later, it was settled. I would reappear at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 to plead my case before the Small Claims Part of the Civil Court of the City of New York (coincidentally not too far from where we met Robinson and his diagnosis of "civilization's pathology"). I remember thinking how convenient the scheduling was -- I wouldn't have to take much time off work and I'd show up to court already wearing a suit. Perfect. |
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> | I used my lunch break to take the train downtown to the Centre Street Courthouse. Three hours and $15 later, it was settled. I would reappear at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 to plead my case before the Small Claims Part of the Civil Court of the City of New York (coincidentally not too far from where we met Robinson and his diagnosis of "civilization's pathology"). I remember thinking how convenient the scheduling was -- I could leave directly from the office, and show up to court already wearing a suit. Perfect. |
| | Preparing for a showdown |
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< | I decided not to enlist the aid of a lawyer. For one, my claim was for less than $1000 in damages, and didn't want to raise my transaction costs any more than was absolutely necessary. I felt, no, I knew the facts were in my favor. I had compiled a record of sublease documents, cell phone statements, and emails corroborating an invariable conclusion that defendant was wrongfully in possession of money that belonged to me. I didn't bother to look into the nuances of tenancy law. I was essentially basing my position on principles of estoppel (though the relevant tenancy law was in my favor). But I wasn't going to let my case ride on estoppel alone. Something else gave me the calm assurance I would receive the outcome I desired. |
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> | I decided not to enlist the aid of a lawyer. For one, I sought damages under $1000, and didn't want to raise my transaction costs any more than was necessary. As well, I felt the facts were in my favor. I had compiled a record of sublease documents, cell phone statements, and emails to satisfy my burden to prove defendant was wrongfully in possession of money that belonged to me. I didn't bother to look into the nuances of tenancy law. I was essentially basing my position on principles of estoppel (though the relevant tenancy law was in my favor). But I wasn't going to let my case ride on estoppel alone. Something else gave me the calm assurance I would receive the outcome I desired. |
| | Every case has a turning point |
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< | On the day of my case, I showed up to court, but, alas, my opponent did not. Sat before a court-appointed magistrate, I was given about one minute to air my grievance before he cut me off to rule on account of defendant's absence. And, like that, I had a certified default judgment in my hands. As good as gold. |
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> | On the evening of my case, I showed up to court, but, alas, my opponent did not. Sat before a plain-clothed magistrate, I was given about one minute to air my grievance before he cut me off to rule on account of defendant's absence. And, like that, I had a court-certified default judgment in my hands. As good as gold. |
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< | It turns out my case was decided long before I ever filed the claim. Whether I admitted it to anyone or not, I knew the odds of the defendant actually appearing in court were slim to none. As I had come to befriend her, I knew the defendant had not grown up in an English-speaking part of the world, and had only recently emigrated to the U.S. On account of her tenuous grasp of the English language (of which she was particularly self-conscious), I inferred she would be terrified to enter a courtroom. And I was right. |
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> | As it turns out, my case was decided long before it ever began. I had known the odds of the defendant actually appearing in court were slim to none. As I had come to befriend the defendant, I knew she had not grown up in an English-speaking part of the world, and had somewhat recently emigrated to the United States. On account of her tenuous grasp of the English language (of which she was particularly self-conscious) and American custom, I inferred she would be terrified to enter a courtroom. And I was right. |
| | Use the court as a means to an end |
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< | Three weeks later, I walked into a midtown branch of defendant's bank around noon and handed them an information subpoena. By four o'clock, I received a call from the bank stating the defendant had arrived to pay over the damages that would remove the hold on her account. I was astonished. What I couldn't do on my own in one year I was able to do in four hours thanks to the backing of the civil court. "Now that," I thought, "is power." |
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> | Some weeks later, I walked into a midtown branch of defendant's bank and handed over an information subpoena. That same day, I received a call from the bank stating the defendant had arrived to pay over the damages, which would remove the hold they had since placed on her account. I was astonished. What I couldn't accomplish in a year I was able to do in mere hours thanks to the backing of the civil court. |
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< | Did principle really determine this case? |
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> | A lawyer's ability to promote efficient outcomes |
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> | Years later, enforcing the judgment seem less wise than it appeared at the time. For all the charity I was prepared to extend to the defendant as a small business owner before filing the claim, by enforcing the judgment (as I was legally entitled to do) I was placing a freeze on her small business account. Whether or not this had a material impact on her credit rating, it no doubt looks bad to be called in by your bank account manager to settle a judicial debt levied against your small business. What effect this event might have had on her ability to obtain a commercial loan or line of credit in the future, I will never know.
While I like to think Felix Cohen would approve of my pre-trial strategy, both he and Robinson would probably look down on my execution of relief. I wasted time and effort by going to court and could have likely recovered my deposit a lot sooner than I did, at a lesser cost to all parties. For one, I could have gone to her location and threatened to take the judgment to the bank. I would have thereby recovered damages and she would have retained her standing before her lender. Or I could have tried negotiating an out-of-court settlement prior to the hearing, saving me a lot of time and effort and her the humiliation of not having appeared in court.
A lawyer's ability to remove -- or at least mitigate -- the variable of the parties
My legal victory was largely the result of imbalances in linguistic education and cultural familiarity between parties, tilted in my favor. But I think my pro se experience underscores an important purpose lawyers serve -- to level at least one corner of the playing field so clients have a fighting chance before they enter the courtroom (or better yet, so they don't have to enter the courtroom). By contacting one, maybe I could have saved myself and the defendant both time and trouble. Lesson learned. |
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< | The potential for abuse and a lawyer's responsibility to correct for it |
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