Small Claims Court Summons

It really isn’t much about cars. It is about law. So the plaintiff will have to offer proof of what he is claiming. The judge won’t just accept it. He/she will check it’s relevance and its logic.

Then it is the defendant‘s turn. There should be some claims in the complaint. You offer argument and testimony. The judge will check you too.

That’s it. Be very organized. Be very succinct.

SV


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Lack of car knowledge could very well be an issue if the plaintiff alleges something that is technically impossible. The average person probably thinks a car can be hotwired just by reaching under the dash and connecting a couple of loose wires together, but anyone who knows cars knows better. Hopefully it will not turn out to be an issue but if I were in the OP's shoes I'd much rather the judge not be out of his/her depth technically.

 

NoIt at all. If you have a technical issue, bring in or get testimony from a technical expert. It’s about prep. The more you prep, the better chance of the outcome...

SV



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And how does one justify the expense of expert witnesses in small claims court? And even if you can, small claims court judges are generally at the bottom end of the curve and therefore the least likely to even understand technical information when it's presented to them.

I recently read of a case (not in small claims court) where the decision (which bankrupted the defendant) was quite clearly made in spite of the technical information presented by expert witnesses. The vast majority of the experts in that field commenting in a private forum agreed that the judge was completely out of his depth, based on comments he made during the trial and in the judgement.

You can defend the legal system all you want (I assume you're involved in it in some capacity), but to those of us who don't live in that bubble it's quite clear that truth, justice, and even the exact letter of the law quite often come out on the losing side in our court system, be it civil or criminal.

All of which strays waaay off-topic. But I stand by my original comment, and hope that *justice* prevails (whatever outcome that might dictate) and that the judge is savvy enough to understand what he/she is hearing.

 

Nope, or involved at all in the legal system nor do I play it on television! I do have good friends who are involved but my opinions are not theirs.

I’m speaking only of small claims because I had a single encounter.

I’m not suggesting bringing in a technical expert but with a complaint in hand from the plaintiff, you should be able to make a good case with written testimony. Oral testimony is fine too but can be harder to arrange. Small claims are limited in damages in every case should the worst happen.

The judicial system of course can get it wrong like anyone but it does provide corrective feedback opportunities tho at a high cost. Small claims is one of the antidotes. It can be very personal.

I still suspect the plaintiff will bail (so to speak). Quite often they figure most folks will ignore the summons and they get a default judgement.

And a complicated case is much harder to prove.

SV


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Mike and SVCalifornia, you are both right.

Mike, as you said, small claims judges (especially in California) are the bottom of the legal barrel and probably lack life experiences to make the necessary determination (and may even never have owned a car). SV California, your are very correct that you should be very organized and succinct. Small claims judges have the attention span of a gnat and want you done in 5 minutes or less. They also are not “real” judges and feel compelled to try to make everyone happy and split the baby rather than applying the law and making tough decisions.

So ceb39, the chances of a small claims judge getting it right is not good but you have to play the game. Fortunately the amount the judge can award is limited ($10K if the plaintiff is an individual and $5K if the plaintiff is a company). So simply do your best. At the end of the day, based on what you said, you have the better side of the argument and right should prevail. Good luck.