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A Guide To Small Claims Court

-- By MichaelDuignan - 24 Feb 2010

A case of personal indignation

"As a litigant, I should dread a lawsuit beyond almost anything short of sickness and death." - J. Learned Hand

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.

Using the court to right a wrong

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 her 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.

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 have both been small-business owners, and I empathized with her status as an entrepreneur of humble means. However, once I learned she had taken 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.

Filing with the court

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 for 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 timing was -- I wouldn't have to take much time off work and I'd show up to court already wearing a suit. Perfect.

Preparing for a showdown

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 sublease documents, cell phone statements, and email histories corroborating the invariable conclusion 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 so foolish as to let the 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

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 a minute to air my grievance before the court 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.

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 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 lesser 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.

Use the court as a means to an end

Three weeks later, I walked into a midtown branch of defendant's bank around noon with 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 the bank had placed 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."

Did principle really determine the case?

The potential for abuse and a lawyer's responsibility to correct for it

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