Small claims court judges resolve disputes involving relatively modest amounts of money. The people or businesses involved normally present their cases to a judge or court commissioner under rules that encourage a minimum of legal and procedural formality.
The judge then makes a decision (a judgment) reasonably promptly. Although procedural rules dealing with when and where to file and serve papers are established by each state's laws and differ in detail, the basic approach to properly preparing and presenting a small claims case is remarkably similar throughout the United States.
In a handful of states, including California, Nebraska and Michigan, you must appear in small claims court on your own.
In most states, however, you can be represented by a lawyer if you like. But even where it's allowed, hiring a lawyer is rarely cost-efficient. Most lawyers charge too much given the relatively small amounts of money involved in small claims disputes. Happily, several studies show that people who represent themselves in small claims cases usually do just as well as those who have a lawyer.
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