* Whether you need a lawyer in Small claims court:
The answer is No.
A good lawyer could not make money from such a small case.
The lawyers you can hire fall into the following categories:
1. Freshly graduated. They need to get experience from your case. It is very
common that a law school student graduate never go to court like you either.
They only know some special knowledge e.g. civil law, business law... His legs
shake too.
2. An experience lawyer. But he spends litter time to prepare for your case.
It is not better if you could spend some time yourself.
A lawyer will charge you about $60 an hour usually. If he could not do a good
job for you, what's point of hiring him?
* The formal letter I sent to him, don't tell him your mailing address, a
phone # is fine. He is unable to sue without your mailing address.
You Asshole
Center reach, NY 11720
9/28/2002
Dear Mr. Asshole:
As you know, until May 31, 2002, I resided in your house for rent and
regularly paid my rent. When I moved out, I left the unit as clean as it was
when I moved in which I have witnesses to prove.
As of today, I have not received my $450 deposit, which my receipt indicates.
The reason why I moved out was because my parents were planning to pay me a
visit but the exact time was not determined. At that time, I expressed my
intention to move out this May. But you insisted that I could leave my stuffs
in my room without paying the rent for the summer. Appreciated by your
goodwill, I told you that I would inform you my decision when I know when they
will come by the end of August 2002.
Around the end of July 2002, in reply to your phone call, I informed you that
my decision had not been made because my parents’ decision had not been made
yet. You grudged me for what I had never promised. I decided to move my stuffs
out later because of the unpleasant talk.
You declined to return my deposit after I called you for several times. Please
be aware that I know my rights under New York Civil Code A01142. And the law
does not justify your thought, which you are claiming that my deposit is used
to compensate for your losses. A party is also not responsible for the
consequences that he or she has never promised.
As a courtesy, if I do not receive my money within the next week, a copy of
this letter will be sent to New York Small Claims Court, and I will regard the
retention of the deposit as showing “bad faith” on your part and shall sue
you, not only for the $450 deposit, but also for the interest and all my court
expenses that incurred.
Sincerely,
Rocky
* I asked for an interperter which turned out to be a bad idea. Communications
were made through a microphone which lengthen the trial time tremendously. The
judge and the clerks were very happy and curious at first. The judge said it
was the first time they use it since the court was built. But everybody got
impatient afterwards.
I thought to myself: I don't want to lose because of language problem. But
unless you can get an interpreter by youside, never ask for that machine
interpreter again! A good way would be get a friend whose English is good to
help you out.
Actually I think we are all fine to communicate with the judge if you can
communicate with your boss.
