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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 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. |
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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 there is in Manhattan, the experience affirmed that judicial outcomes can have more to do with the parties to the suit than the 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 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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> | Six years ago, I moved to New York to begin a life after college. With haste, I secured a 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 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 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. |
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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, offering her a monthly payment plan to draw down her debt, but after a single payment, she again disappeared. I almost let her get away with it too; my parents had each run their own businesses, and I empathized as she was a small-business owner of modest means. However, once I learned she had taken in sublessees after me who each had their deposits reimbursed in full, any empathy quickly turned to antipathy. |
| | Filing with the court |
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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. |
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> | I took the train to the Centre Street Courthouse during my lunch break. Three hours and $15 later, I had a date to 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 (not far from where we met Robinson and his musings on "civilization's pathology"). I remember thinking how convenient the scheduling was -- I could leave directly from the office, and arrive at court already wearing a suit. |
| | Preparing for a showdown |
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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. |
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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 transaction costs to cut into my winnings. As well, I felt the facts were in my favor. I had a record of sublease documents, cell phone statements, and emails to prove the defendant had wrongfully skirted her obligation to repay. I didn't bother to look into the nuances of tenancy law. Though I wasn't aware of it at the time, my position was based on promissory estoppel (yet NY tenancy law was too in my favor). But, something else gave me the calm assurance that I would obtain the outcome I desired. |
| | Every case has a turning point |
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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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> | On the evening of my case, I showed up to court; alas, the defendant did not. Sat before a plain-clothed magistrate, I was given about a minute to air my grievance before he cut me off to rule on account of the defendant's absence. And, like that, I had a certified default judgment in my hands. |
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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. |
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As it turns out, my case was decided long before it ever began. I knew odds of the defendant actually appearing in court were slim to none. As I had come to befriend her, I knew she had not grown up in an English-speaking part of the world, and had only recently come to the United States. Due 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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< | 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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> | Weeks later, I walked into a midtown branch of the 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 freeze 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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| | 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. |
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> | Years later, I question the wisdom of my claim. For any charity I was prepared to extend to the defendant before filing, by enforcing the judgment through her bank, I may have actually done her small business harm. Whether or not this had a material effect on her credit rating, it no doubt reflects poorly to be called in by your account manager to settle a judgment levied against your business. What impact this had on her ability to obtain a commercial loan or line of credit thereafter, I will never know. |
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< | 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. |
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> | While I like to think Holmes and Cohen would approve of my pre-hearing strategy, I imagine that they 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 sooner and at a lesser cost to all parties. For one, I could have gone to her location after the hearing 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 sought an out-of-court settlement prior to the hearing, saving me time and effort and her the humiliation of not having appeared before the court. |
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< | A lawyer's ability to remove -- or at least mitigate -- the variable of the parties |
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> | A lawyer's obligation to mitigate the variable of the parties |
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< | 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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> | My legal victory was largely the result of imbalances in linguistic ability and cultural familiarity between parties, tilted in my favor. I think my pro se experience underscores an important purpose lawyers serve -- to level 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). If either of us had contacted one, maybe we could have saved ourselves both time and trouble. |
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