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List Price: $29.99
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Edition: 17th
Pages: 496 pp
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Table of Contents
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| The 17th edition -- updated with
the latest laws and procedures -- now features practical
tips and insights by former judges of small claims
courts. It also shows you how to handle disputes
involving Internet transactions. Go after the money
that's owed you -- represent yourself in small claims
court and win! |
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Everybody's Guide to Small
Claims Court in California
By Attorney Ralph Warner, Nolo Press
Venue:
Description:
The only guide to California Small Claims
Court that provides tips by former judges!
The definitive guide to California Small Claims Court for
more than 25 years, this plain-English guide gives you step-by-step
instructions to bring or defend your case -- from preparing
evidence and lining up persuasive witnesses, to making a presentation
in court and collecting the money you're awarded.
Everybody's Guide to Small Claims Court in
California shows you how to:
- decide if you have a winning case
- mediate a settlement if possible
- determine how much to sue for
- write your demand letter
- file and serve papers
- prepare evidence and witnesses for court
- plan a winning courtroom strategy
- convince the judge that you are right
- collect your money when you win
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. In the Beginning
- A. First Things
- B. Checklist of Things to Think About Before Initiating
or Defending Your Case
- C. Legal Jargon Defined
- D. How to Use This Book
2. Do You Have a Good Case?
- A. Stating Your Claim on Your Court Papers
- B. But Is My Case Really Any Good?
- C. How to Approach a Breach of Contract Case
- D. How to Approach a Property Damage Case
- E. How to Approach a Personal Injury (and Mental Distress)
Case
- F. How to Approach a Case When You Are Injured by a
Defective Product
- G. How to Approach a Breach of Warranty Case
- H. How to Approach a Professional Malpractice Case
- I. How to Approach a Nuisance Case
3. Can You Collect Your Money If You Win?
4. How Much Can You Sue For?
- A. Cutting Down a Claim to Fit Under the Limit
- B. Splitting Small Claims Court Cases
- C. How to Calculate the Exact Amount of Your Claim
- D. Equitable Relief (or, Money Can't Always Solve the
Problem)
5. When Can You Sue?
- A. California Statute of Limitations Periods
- B. Calculating the Statute of Limitations
- C. Defendant Should Tell the Judge If the Statute of
Limitations Has Run Out
6. How to Settle Your Dispute
- A. Try to Talk Out Your Dispute
- B. Mediate Your Dispute
- C. Write a Formal Demand Letter
- D. Write Down the Terms of Any Settlement
- E. Agreement Just Before Court Hearing
7. Who Can Sue?
- A. Married Couples
- B. Sole Proprietorships
- C. Business Partnerships
- D. Corporations
- E. Limited Liability Companies
- F. Nonprofits and Unincorporated Associations
- G. Motor Vehicle Claims
- H. Government Agencies
- I. Special Rules for Owners of Rental Property
- J. Special Rules for Homeowners' Associations
- K. Suits by Prisoners
- L. Suits by Minors
- M. Special Rules for Military Personnel Transferred
Out of State
- N. Class Actions (Group Lawsuits)
- O. Participation by Attorneys and Bill Collectors
8. Who Can Be Sued?
- A. How to Sue One Person
- B. How to Sue Two or More People
- C. How to Sue an Individually Owned Business
- D. How to Sue a Partnership
- E. How to Sue a Corporation or Limited Liability Company
(LLC)
- F. How to Sue on a Motor Vehicle Accident
- G. How to Sue Minors
- H. How to Sue Government Agencies
- I. How to Sue Contractors and Their Bonding Companies
J. How to Sue the Estates of Deceased People
9. Where Can You Sue?
- A. Where to Sue Out-of-State Defendants
- B. Where to Sue California Defendants
- C. What Happens if Suit Is Filed in the Wrong California
Small Claims Court?
10. Plaintiff's and Defendant's Filing Fees, Court Papers,
and Court Dates
- A. How Much Does It Cost?
- B. Filling Out Your Court Papers and Getting Your Court
Date
- C. The Defendant's Forms
- D. Changing a Court Date
11. Serving Your Papers
- A. Who Must Be Served
- B. How to Serve an Individual
- C. How to Serve an Out-of-State Motorist
- D. How to Serve an Out-of-State Property Owner
- E. How to Serve Papers on a Business
- F. How to Serve a Contractor or Anyone Else With a Surety
Bond
- G. How to Serve a Public Agency
- H. Time Limits in Which the Plaintiff's Claim Must Be
Served
- I. How to Notify the Court That Service Has Been Accomplished
("Proof of Service")
- J. How and When to Serve a Defendant's Claim
- K. How and When to Serve Subpoenas
- L. Costs of Service
12. The Defendant's Options
- A. Claim That You Weren't Properly Served With Court
Papers
- B. Claim You Were Sued in the Wrong Small Claims Court
- C. Claim You Were Sued After the Statute of Limitations
Expired
- D. You Have a Partial Defense-Try to Compromise
- E. You Want to Avoid Conflict-Try to Mediate
- F. You Have Absolutely No Defense
- G. You Want to Pay the Plaintiff in Installments
- H. If You, Not the Plaintiff, Were Wronged-File a Defendant's
Claim
- I. Fight Back
13. Getting Ready for Court
- A. Interpreter Services
- B. Free Small Claims Advice
- C. Getting Help From a Private Lawyer
- D. Mediation
- E. Practice, Practice, Practice
- F. Getting to the Courthouse
- G. Court Times
- H. Understanding the Courtroom and Basic Procedure
- I. Dealing With Your Opponent
- J. Dealing With the Judge or Commissioner
- K. Organizing Your Testimony and Evidence
14. Witnesses
- A. Who Makes a Good Witness
- B. Subpoenaing Witnesses
- C. Subpoenaing Police Officers
- D. Subpoenaing Documents
- E. Witness Testimony by Letter
- F. Judges as Witnesses
- G. Testimony by Telephone
15. Your Day in Court
- A. If Your Opponent Doesn't Show Up
- B. Contested Cases
- C. A Sample Contested Case
- D. Don't Forget to Ask for Your Costs
16. Motor Vehicle Repair Cases
- A. Have You Suffered a Loss?
- B. Can You Prove the Defendant's Negligence Caused Your
Loss?
17. Motor Vehicle Purchase Cases
- A. New Vehicles
- B. Used Vehicle Dealers
- C. Used Vehicles from Private Parties
18. Bad Debts: Initiating and Defending Cases in Which Money
Is Owed
- A. Small Claims Court Is a Good Place to Sue on Bad
Debts
- B. Bad Debt Cases From the Plaintiff's Point of View
- C. Debt Cases From the Debtor's Point of View
19. Vehicle Accident Cases
- A. Who Can Sue Whom?
- B. Was There a Witness to the Accident?
- C. Police Accident Reports
- D. Determining Fault
- E. Diagrams
- F. Photos
- G. Estimates
- H. Your Demand Letter
- I. Appearing in Court
20. Landlord-Tenant Cases
- A. Security Deposit Cases
- B. Unpaid Rent, Rent Withholding, and Other Money Damage
Cases
- C. Drug Dealing and Other Crimes
- D. The Obnoxious Landlord
- E. The Landlord's Right of Entry and the Tenant's Right
of Privacy
- F. Discrimination
- G. Evictions
21. Miscellaneous Cases
- A. Clothing (Alteration and Cleaning)
- B. Dog-Related Cases
- C. Damage to Real Estate (Land, Buildings, etc.)
- D. Police Brutality/False Arrest Cases
- E. Defamation (Including Libel and Slander)
- F. Internet Purchases
22. Disputes Between Small Businesses
- A. Remember: You Didn't Always Hate Your Opponent
- B. Organizing Your Case
- C. The Drama of the Distraught Designer
- D. Old Friends Fall Out
23. Judgment and Appeal
- A. The Judgment
- B. Installment Payments
- C. Paying the Judgment Directly to the Court
- D. File Satisfaction of Judgment After Payment
- E. Who Can Appeal
- F. Filing Your Request to Correct or Vacate Judgment
- G. Filing and Presenting Your Appeal
24. Collecting Your Money
- A. The Timing of Collecting Your Money
- B. If Installment Payments Aren't Made
- C. Collecting a Judgment Against a Government Agency
- D. Finding the Debtor's Assets
- E. Levying on Wages, Bank Accounts, Business Assets,
Personal Property, Etc.
- F. Judgments Stemming From Auto Accidents
- G. Creating Property Liens
- H. Recovering Collection Costs and Interest
25. Legal Research
- A. Local Laws
- B. State Laws
- C. Case Law
Appendix
Index
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