The Salt Lake Tribune - October 19th 2003
Elizabeth Neff , The Salt Lake Tribune
As attorney Scott Sabey welcomes about a dozen people to small-claims court, he lays down the ground rules:
No eye-rolling or theatrics, please. Don't interrupt while he or someone else is talking. Remember, plaintiffs, the burden is on you to prove what you are saying is true.
The first couple before Sabey on Thursday are upset with problems in their new home, including a leaky dishwasher and hot tub, a broken furnace, clogged drains and a bum sprinkler system that have cost them thousands to repair. The former owners say everything worked fine when they left the home and have hired an attorney who filed a complex motion to dismiss the case just one day earlier.
Sabey warns the couple they may need more time to prepare or check with an attorney. They decline, saying they want only to put their frustrations behind them. Like many who come to small claims, they are ready for what Sabey calls "rough justice."
Utah courts are fed a steady diet of similar cases. In fiscal 2003, 45,930 small-claims actions were filed -- a few thousand more than the number of criminal cases filed in district courts statewide. Now legislators are seeking to make more cases eligible for small-claims court by increasing the amount of money a plaintiff can sue for from $ 5,000 to $ 10,000. The Utah State Bar is studying the idea as well.
At issue as reformists push for increasing small-claims court limits nationwide is whether upping the dollar amount could mean greater access to the courts or an easier venue for the strong to prey on the weak.
In Utah, small-claims cases begin with a filing fee of either $ 45 or $ 70. People or businesses can then seek to recover money damages for goods or services provided. Cases go to either a district courthouse where volunteer attorneys decide cases, or to a justice court where a sitting justice court judge, who may or may not be an attorney, hears the dispute.
The busiest and most well-known small-claims court takes place Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights at Salt Lake City's Matheson Courthouse. There, says longtime small-claims court clerk supervisor Phyllis Hanson, clerks get more than 8,000 filings each year and give most people a trial date within two months of filing.
Working with small-claims courts for two decades, Hanson remembers when the small-claims limit was increased to the current $ 5,000. Now, she said, she sees more and more cases approaching that limit and estimates at least one-quarter of her cases seek $ 5,000.
In recent years, Hanson said, some Utahns have elected to make their small-claims case on the air. But even Judge Judy's popular show won't take cases worth more than $ 5,000.
Utah is among 15 states with $ 5,000 limits. Only a few states have higher limits. In Colorado you can sue in small-claims court for up to $ 7,500. New Mexico has a $ 10,000 limit, as does Pennsylvania. Four states -- Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey and Tennessee -- have $ 15,000 limits, and some counties in Tennessee will hear $ 25,000 small-claims disputes.
Utah Reps. Stephen Urquhart, R-St. George, and Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, who are attorneys, have suggested larger limits here. Their main ally at the national level is a legal reform group called HALT, which lobbies for increasing small-claims limits to as much as $ 20,000.
Like Utah lawmakers, Tom Gordon, director of HALT's small-claims reform project, says lower limits leave some caught in a legal no man's land when the amount they are seeking is too large for small-claims court but not large enough to be worth hiring an attorney for.
"A lot of the value of the small-claims court is that . . . you can hold it over someone who has done something wrong," he said. "If you have a state with a low small-claims limit they are more likely to take the chance that you won't go to court."
A HALT study released last week examines how increasing small-claims court jurisdictional limits affected caseloads in 37 states from 1984 to 2002. The study found that five years after the increases, 85 percent of all jurisdictions had caseloads within 5 percent of the caseload before the jurisdictional increase.
Add to the list of supporters for an increase attorneys such as Ned Siegfried, whose firm is known for handling auto accidents and soliciting clients with an all-out advertising blitz. Utah law doesn't allow people to sue for personal injuries such as pain and suffering and lost wages unless they have incurred at least $ 3,000 in medical bills.
Considering that, Siegfried says, motorists can hit the small claims $ 5,000 limit quickly. But attorneys are reluctant to take on cases just out of range of small-claims court because legal bills can quickly eclipse any potential recovery.
"That leaves a lot of people underrepresented," he said.
From his view on the bench, Sabey has other concerns.
At 45, Sabey has served as a small-claims judge for just under 10 years and teaches new attorney volunteers -- many of them only a few years out of law school -- how to conduct small-claims court. He says raising the limit would be a mistake.
"If you increase, yes you will bring in more of the middle class, but I think you are bringing them in at a significant detriment to the lower-income class," he said. "There are many people who simply cannot survive a judgment of $ 10,000. And before that amount of judgment is entered there should be some safeguards."
Not only can the dollar amount be devastating for some who appear before him without an attorney, Sabey says, but those weightier decisions will not be made by sitting judges.
The attorney volunteers "are well-intentioned individuals who are donating their time, but they are not trained judges," he said.
Those who volunteer their time to keep small-claims courts running might be more reluctant to volunteer if the limit is increased, Sabey said. Sabey also worries about an increase in cases where businesses ask him to enforce contracts with exorbitant interest rates -- as high as 36 percent a month.
Unsophisticated consumers or even some who do not speak English well will sign the contracts, and without any law on just how much interest companies can charge in Utah, some small-claims judges decide they must always rule against unwitting consumers.
Urquhart, an attorney and former small-claims judge, says he would think those companies would go through the district court because they know the defendant may not be able to go through the more complicated district court procedure.
But Urquhart admits he sees legitimate concerns about raising the dollar limit to a point "where the amount is so significant it's worth it to bring in lawyers and you lose the informalness and the promptness and efficiency of small-claims court."
N. George Daines, president-elect of the Utah State Bar, heads a task force looking at the issue. He says the newly formed group is open-minded about a potential increase and plans to study possible effects.
Before the beginning of Sabey's small-claims session Thursday, Russ Osguthorpe gave those in the courtroom another option to small-claims court altogether. He and other mediators from the nonprofit Utah Dispute Resolution tell the crowd the free mediation they offer is easier, risk-free and, if a case can't be resolved, the small-claims judge can still hear it the same night.
His efforts net a case from the courtroom, but the rest gathered seem intent on having their day in court right away.
When court begins, one man steps forward and quickly wins his case when the other side doesn't show. He gets a $ 1,500 judgment because he filed a claim against a company that has been sending junk faxes to his home office.
At the beginning of their trial, the couple with the house problems appear to be floundering. The attorney introduces his motion and quickly learns Sabey helped draft the real estate laws in question.
In the end, Kelly McKean and Barbara Bruno win a $ 1,227 judgment, and Sabey dismisses the counterclaim against them.
"I did not expect to have that much time given to our case," said McKean, 49. "I learned a lot last night. They don't want to hear stories, they need hard evidence. I pictured small claims as being more big picture, but it went much deeper than I expected."
Bruno, 48, said the couple consulted a real estate attorney who told them they had a strong case, but for the amount involved they should go to small claims. The case was delayed twice, once by the defendant and once by them. She was dismayed to see the other side had hired an attorney, which she says doesn't belong in small-claims court.
The last to appear is a man who comes in with his wife and speaks on her behalf as she does not speak English well. The couple say they were promised by a Spanish-speaking secretary at a treatment clinic not to worry because their insurance would cover 100 percent of their visit. Now they are fighting a bill that their insurance has not covered.
Because the other side does not provide the exact amount owed, Sabey continues their case. He also gives the couple a word of advice, telling them they can subpoena witnesses such as the secretary to come in and support their case.
"It's not a matter of playing Solomon and cutting the baby in half," Sabey said after Thursday's court session. "Sometimes people get nothing. Sometimes they get everything."
Tips for winning in small-claims court
- Bring documentation such as canceled checks, purchase orders, written contracts or other evidence, including the original and copies for the other side and the judge. Organize them in the order you are going to present your case.
- Understand that cases are broken into two portions: proving the event occurred and then why you should get damages. Getting an affidavit or bringing witnesses to court or subpoenaing them to appear helps prove your case.
- Before preparing your arguments, put yourself in the other person's shoes and anticipate his or her arguments.
- Prepare a sheet for the judge that breaks down individual expenses you are claiming.
- Focus on the issues of the case and avoid personal attacks.
For detailed information on how to file a small claims case, visit http://www.utcourts.gov/howto/smallclaims
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