6 tips for winning in small claims court

2. RESEARCH THE RULES AND LIMITS IN YOUR STATE If your demand letter does no good, find out if your case qualifies for small claims court, and how to proceed, by conducting an online search

for small claims court in your state. The rules differ by location. Pay attention to the statute of limitations — the time limit when you can no longer take your case to court — as well as

to the dollar limit, which may be between $2,500 and $25,000, depending on the state. If your case exceeds that amount, you’ll need to consult an attorney and take the matter to a different

type of court. 3. FILL OUT THE FORMS AND HAVE THEM SERVED The next step is to complete the forms for small claims. Most courts will provide them for filing your suit and for obtaining

service of process on the other party, Thrush says. Many courts make them available electronically. Complete the forms and file them with the court, along with the appropriate filing fee for

that jurisdiction. Next, you have to notify the other party that you are taking them to small claims court — in other words, you have to give your opponent a copy of your suit. You can use

a sheriff to serve the papers, typically for a fee. You can also hire a process server. “Once the papers are served, the case is docketed, and you are moving through the system,” Thrush

explains. Now you wait. The defendant has 20 days to file an answer if he or she resides in your state; 30 days if out of state. In that time, you may receive the money owed. If so, notify

the court that you wish to have the case dismissed. Or the defendant may file a counter suit, and you will have 20 days to respond. If you don’t, the case will be dismissed. Your state may

require you and the defendant to appear before the judge for a pretrial hearing to determine what happens next. In that scenario, the defendant may choose to settle the claim. If not, the

judge may order mediation or allow the matter to proceed to trial in small claims court. Mediation is an attempt to settle a case without going to trial. The plaintiff, defendant, attorneys

and a neutral third party, called a mediator, discuss the case to try to find a solution. 4. BE ORGANIZED, AND SPEAK SUCCINCTLY Once your court date is set, be sure to organize all the

information the judge will need to decide the case in your favor: contracts, leases, emails, receipts, invoices, purchase orders, canceled checks and photos. It may be a good idea to arrange

these items in a binder or a folder with a table of contents and dividers for easy access. Now write down what you want to say, and practice it in front of a friend who’ll give you honest

feedback. Once in court, you and the defendant will take an oath to tell the truth. You’ll present your case first. Be succinct, as you may have as little as five minutes to speak. The judge

may ask questions, and you may do the same of the opposing party. Do you have one or more witnesses who can add important facts and credibility to your case? Discuss the matter, making sure

that your stories jibe. Observe how well these witnesses present themselves.