Small Claims Guide

Great! You have proof of service (signature receipt!) in hand of your demand letter and court summons. The Defendant(s) are in court and all you have to do is go before the judge! Easy, right? Kind of!

I recently appeared in Issaquah District Court before Judge Nault to present a small claims personal injury case with my brother. While I am sitting watching other cases (which I recommend! The court is open to the public) I hear the Judge say "I don't watch videos" ... well, my entire case is proved by video evidence!

Did I panic? A little.What do I do? I had prepared TRANSCRIPTS and STILL FRAMES from the video, and any audio like the 9-11 call.The judge would NOT accept a USB drive with digital video evidence, and did not review the video at all!

This is ultimately because the Judge is in charge that day.

I should have moved to voluntarily dismiss the case. The Judge dismissed my claims, and Involuntary Dismissal is WITH prejudice. I had to file a Request for Relief from Judgment nearly a YEAR later to correct this mistake. Relief is NOT an Appeal, it is a way to VACATE a judgment under certain grounds.

BE HONEST! EVEN IF YOU DID SOMETHING WRONG!

This is the biggest help I can give you: If you try to outthink the judge or get ahead of their line of questioning, it will NOT help your case! If you are honest, you don't need a good memory because you will be consistent. If you lie, you will only get caught and the judge will not like that and may dismiss your case! They won't even look at your evidence until both parties have really sworn testimony on the matter, because then they will catch you lying! DO NOT LIE.

BE PREPARED TO INTERRUPT! 

This is the crazy part.. technically you can't object, but you will notice the Judge may allow litigants to blurt stuff out (this is also a good strategy for the Judge, to let people hang themselves, so to speak, when they get too excited and stop thinking... never a good strategy for liar! REMEMBER: BE HONEST)

BE PREPARED TO DEFEND YOURSELF FROM HARSH, DIRECT QUESTIONS THAT MAY SEEM RUDE OR ADVERSARIAL!

The judge needs to clarify the picture in their own mind. They will do this however they deem necessary. You may feel like you are being attacked, but answer the questions directly. Don't try to guess where the judge may be going. Remember, you are honest and have nothing to hide. Anything less from the Defendants will make you seem more credible.