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Comment by ryanwaggoner | Hacker News Reader

You can't have an attorney represent you in small claims court, but can someone else file and appear on your behalf? If so, perhaps someone in the Bay Area should setup a company that helps people sue Google in small claims court. Charge a couple hundred bucks or something.

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> You can't have an attorney represent you in small claims court

Laws vary by state.

In Massachusetts, you CAN have an attorney.

No, you cannot represent somebody else in small claims court, even if you are a licensed attorney. The plaintiff and the defendant must represent themselves. If either one is a corporation, then an employee of the corporation (not a hired lawyer or consultant) must represent the corporation.

Not disagreeing, but do you have a source? Also, what if one of the parties is bedridden or something?

That's the whole concept of small claims court (no attorneys). Laws are per state: http://www.courts.state.va.us/pamphlets/small_claims.html

California Code of Civil Procedure 116.540 [1]

"116.540. (a) Except as permitted by this section, no individual other than the plaintiff and the defendant may take part in the conduct or defense of a small claims action."

Most of the exceptions detail that the person appearing has to be a regular employee of the plaintiff, if not the plaintiff themselves.

[1] http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=ccp...

So, technically you could have an attorney as an employee for a month or two and have him/her represent your company in the court?

No, unless the attorney is defending himself/herself or is a general partner in a law firm being sued:

116.530. (a) Except as permitted by this section, no attorney may take part in the conduct or defense of a small claims action.

(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply if the attorney is appearing to maintain or defend an action in any of the following capacities:

(1) By or against himself or herself.

(2) By or against a partnership in which he or she is a general partner and in which all the partners are attorneys.

(3) By or against a professional corporation of which he or she is an officer or director and of which all other officers and directors are attorneys.

Is there some way we can downvote this so far that it doesn't break the layout on this page and render almost every other comment illegible?

Seriously. PLEASE quit that crap with the nowrap <pre>.

Why not just sue them in your own local small claims court? You are more likely to win by default.

You're usually required to file in the defendant's court, and with good reason. The judge will likely toss the case out unless you have a really good reason for not filing here.

That's so wrong that it hurts.

There is no legal obligation to file in the Defendant's court. US law allows a lawsuit to be filed in (1) the plaintiff's home court, (2) the defendant's home court, or (3) the home court of the jurisdiction where the events giving rise to the lawsuit took place.

Forum selection clauses ARE NOT BINDING UNLESS SIGNED IN WRITING. Most courts will not honor forum selection clauses between consumers and corporations due to the unfair bargaining power in the relationship. The other primary justification is that the corporation can afford to travel to a city where they willingly do business (i.e., provide goods or services.)

CHOICE OF LAW CLAUSES ARE BINDING. That simply means that the the court hearing the case may have to apply the law of a different state.

See where I said "usually"?

http://www.scselfservice.org/small/plaint/smallplantfiling.h...

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