Posts Tagged by small claims

At some point in everyone’s life, we all find ourselves in some sort of contract dispute. Maybe someone owes a few hundred dollars that they borrowed and never paid back, or we’ve refused to pay a bill we didn’t think we owed. Thankfully, most of these personal disputes arise in quasi-contract and can best be settled in small claims court.

Most folks don’t bring a lawyer to small claims court, but that doesn’t mean the legal principles aren’t complex. The fact is that even if the plaintiff and defendant don’t know the first thing about contract law, the judge hearing the case must apply the principles of contract theory. Now, that doesn’t mean the judge is well-versed in contract law. It’s possible that before they were a judge they specialized in an area of law far removed from contracts, like criminal law, federal law, personal injury law, and a myriad of other areas of practice. This is precisely the problem for those bringing actions in small claims. Here are five tips that will help you when you get to small claims court. (more…)