United States: How To Obtain A Small Claims Court Judgment In Utah

An increasing number of small businesses today are turning to the small claims courts to litigate breaches of contracts and other claims. Handling cases through small claims courts does not remove the need for corporate attorneys, but may be appropriate when claims affecting debtors are small in amount. A party need not be represented by an attorney in a small claims court action, but attorneys frequently appear. If the opposing party has an attorney, you may be at a disadvantage if you continue to represent yourself.

Types Of Cases Which Can Be Brought. Small claims courts handle disputes involving the payment of money in amounts of $5,000 or less. If you have multiple transactions with a client that total an amount in excess of $5,000, you may want to file multiple small claims court actions for the various transactions in amounts less than $5,000. For example, you may be able to file three separate actions for $5,000 each against the same debtor if the three transactions were separate occurrences, but such claims should not be filed at the same time.

Preparing For Hearing. The small claims court judge is referred to as a judge pro tem, and is typically a practicing attorney in the area who is volunteering his or her time. You should thoroughly prepare for the small claims trial by collecting copies of all invoices, statements, correspondence, etc., which will help you to prove your claim against the defendant. Also, you should also bring to court any individuals who may be able to testify to relevant facts and events which led up to the defendant owing the debt. Copies of written statements, even if notarized, are generally not admissible in a small claims court setting. It is also important that all of the witnesses arrive on time because they may be locked out of the courthouse if they are late.

Filing Your Small Claims Court Lawsuit. To initiate a small claims court action, you should contact a local court and obtain a form for a Small Claims Affidavit and Order which needs to be completed and filed with the court. The filing fee to initiate a small claims court action is $37.00, but that amount will be included in the judgment if you are successful. The date and time of the hearing will be set by the court at the time the filing fee is paid.

Serving The Defendant. Once the Affidavit and Order is filed, it must be "served" (i.e., hand delivered) on the defendant(s) by someone who is over the age of 18 and is not a party to the action. A professional legal process server charges approximately $20.00 to serve the Affidavit and Order, and will prepare an affidavit to file with the court to show that the lawsuit was properly and timely served. Small claims cases may only be brought against defendants who reside within the same state. Once the Affidavit and Order is served on the defendant, you must file a "return of service" with the court several days before the small claims court hearing so the court has notice that the defendant has been served.

The Hearing. At the court hearing, there are usually six to ten cases pending on the court's calendar. The cases are generally taken in the order in which they are listed on the docket. Sometimes parties have to wait several hours before their case is called. An increasing number of small claims courts have court mediators available, and parties are encouraged to meet with the mediators to see if a resolution can be reached outside of the court proceedings. Although there are no mandatory requirements for mediation, such meetings are often fruitful and lead to a better result than would have been obtained from the court. (Remember: Even if you win in court, you must still "collect" the judgment—and may even face an appeal to the district court.) If the parties choose to mediate, and subsequently do not reach a resolution during the mediation, they are still permitted to go back to the court and have a trial.

A small claims trial is somewhat similar to what you might expect to see on "Judge Judy" or "The People's Court" on television. Usually you are allowed a few minutes to state the reasons it you believe that you are owed money by the defendant. The judge will frequently ask questions and ask to review documents. You should bring several copies of the relevant documents so you can provide copies to the judge, opposing parties and any witnesses you plan to call to testify at the hearing. A typical hearing in small claims court will last between five and thirty minutes. At the end of the hearing the judge will either award a money judgment in favor of the plaintiff, or dismiss the claim in favor of the defendant.

Collecting The Judgment. After the small claims court hearing is over, you may discover that the judgment is merely only a piece of paper stating that the debtor owes your company money. Seldom is the occasion when a judgment debtor will write out a check to actually pay the judgment after the court hearing. In our next Small Business Newsletter, we will outline a few steps to help small businesses protect their rights and to increase their likelihood of collecting the judgments they obtain in court.

Practice Tip: You may consider hiring an attorney to work with you on your first small claims court case to help you "learn the ropes."