part iii let’s talk business

　　suites without lawyers
　　any person has the right to sue another party for money judgment without a lawyer, or technically speaking "pro se". pro se (pro-say) means by or for yourself. each state sets own limits for so called small claims. such claims usually arise from improper car or appliance repair, defaults in rent or loan payments, return of rent deposit, and so forth. for example, in illinois the small claims limit is $5,000 dollars. state laws and judges facilitate more expeditions and less formal adjudication of such claims for damages than in other cases and court proceedings.
　　a person pursuing a claim in court is called "plaintiff" and a person being sued is called "defendant". plaintiff files a "complaint" stating plaintiff’s and defendant’s names, home or business addresses, dates, events and gist of the claim. copies of receipts, contracts, estimates and pictures must be identified in and attached to the complaint. every paragraph must be numbered and brief. the complaint has to specify the relief sought by the plaintiff from the court.
　　legal entities, such as corporations, partnerships, trusts or associations, may be prohibited by statutes from litigation without attorneys. minors can be represented by their parents. anyone who reached the age of majority can be a pro se plaintiff.
　　a defendant must be served with a summons and a complaint. if the wrong defendant is served, or the service of process is otherwise done improperly, no court judgment will be valid. a defendant may be served by certified mail or through sheriff. service on a defendant-corporation must be either on any Officer of the corporation or its registered agent.
　　if the properly served defendant does not appear at trial, then a default judgment will be enterd against that defendant. if the plaintiff does not appear at trial, then the case will be dismissed for want of prosecution.
　　a complaint must identify the parties by names, principal place of business of a company or home address of a defendant, the place of the occurrence, acts of the parties, allegation of the wrong and remedy sought. state statutes proved that the winning party is entitled to costs incurred, such as filing fees, sheriff’s charges and cost of subpoenas served on witnesses.
　　attorney’s fees are rarely awarded by judges, unless the statute relied the party specifically gives such a right.
　　a defendant must file an appearance and pay the appearance fees within thirty days of service upon that defendant. a written answer has to be filed only in cases involving the amounts in excess of $5,000.00 or other minimum limits set by the state law. a defendant also can file a counterclaim against the plaintiff for poor workmanship and resulting damages, or money owed to the defendant-counterplaintiff.
　　one party may request the other party produce documents and things, answer interrogatories (questions to be answered under oath) and take part in depositions (oral discovery or questioning of a witness or a party in the presence of a court reporter) if the judge or law allows this.
　　witnesses can be subpoenaed (the subpoenas are issued by the court) for trial. a witness is entitled to a statutory fee plus mileage reimbursement. witnesses can testify about the events (what they saw or heard) or give opinions on matters within their expertise. for example, a mechanic can opine on the quality of engine repair, a doctor can give opinions about the health problems, a dog trainer about the dog behavior, and so on.
　　estimates can be introduced into evidence, or in other words heard by or shown to the judge or the jury, only through the testimony of the estimate prepare or through the plaintiff if the bills were paid. the court will not accept papers prepared by a person who is not present in court, unless an expert incorporates such documents in his or her own opinion.
　　if the plaintiff does not show up at the court proceedings, the case will be dismissed for want of prosecution. if the defendant does not show up at trial, then the default judgment will be entered against that defendant. if a party cannot come to the court, any representative of that party can ask the judge to continue the trial or the scheduled proceeding. a trial or hearing is usually continued by the judge to a selected date at the same room and time. telephone requests for continuance of trial are not proper.
　　at trial, a party presents own claim or defense by telling the judge their own version of events, presenting witnesses, exhibits (documents, photographs, receipts, contracts) and questioning the opponent and adverse witnesses.
　　no arguments with witnesses or the judge are allowed in court. each request must be funneled only through the judge. in cases where no evidence is presented to the judge except the conflicting stories of parties, the judge may decide the case on the basis of personal appearance, presentation and veracity of statements of parties.
　　after the judge renders a decision, the winning party prepares an order reflecting the judge’s findings. the judge signs that order. a court clerk then stamps a copy of the order and gives it to each litigant. exhibits are given back to the parties. the judge may award the court costs to the winning party. such costs include filing or appearance fees, subpoenas and sheriff’s charges for serving summonses.
　　the parties can settle their claims before, during and after the trial. judges encourage litigants to settle and assist in reaching such settlements. a party having no funds to pay the judgment award can pay it in installments. the defendant should get from the plaintiff a paper called "satisfaction of judgment" after the judgment is paid in full or the judgment is settled. this document must be registered in court and kept for future reference in case the defendant’s credit record has not been cleared.
　　a losing party can file an appeal within thirty days of the judgment entered by the court. the appeal takes long time and can be won if the judge abused her discretion in rendering the decision.
　　if the defendant refuses to pay the judgment, the plaintiff can record only a "memorandum of judgment" which will impose a lien or objection to the defendant’s property title. thereby the property will no be transferred to anyone without satisfaction of judgment. this may not be helpful in case the defendant does not own any real estate.
　　collection of judgment is another legal avenue which must be pursued by the judgment-creditor against the judgment-debtor. such collection can be accomplished through collection agencies charging a certain percentage for their efforts. the judgment-creditor can also initiate a garnishment action in court. the court may issue a wage deduction order requiring the employer to deduct a portion of wages for payment of judgment. a citation to discover assets issued by the court in the garnishment action forces the judgment-debtor to disclose all assets (real estate, stocks, bonds, bank accounts, cars). in case of failure to disclose such assets, the court can issue an "attachment" for the responsible party’s arrest.
　　if the defendant leaves the country, has no assets or declares bankruptcy, further collection efforts may become fruitless.

　　part iiii exercises and discussion

　　² give real life examples of:
　　- a written contract
　　- a verbal contract
　　- a bilateral contract
　　- a unilateral contract
　　- a promise in exchange for an act or performance
　　identify the parties, legal objects (subject matter) and considerations in each of the above contracts.

　　² give legal advices to the following scenarios based upon your understanding on legal practices of “small claims” in us. try to use as many “legal terms” as you can. such terms had been underlined in part two and three.
　　- mel chen, the owner of 123 main st, anytown, illinois, is suing one of her tenants, john dow for a rent overdue of $5,500. mel was planning not to have a lawyer because of the high cost. does she have the right to do so?
　　- following the above scenario, if the amount of the rent overdue was $4,000, could mel have a lawsuit without a lawyer? if she could, what capacity will she be acting in? how about john?
　　- following the above scenario, if mel decided not to show up at the court due to some personal reasons, what are some of the consequences she is going to take? what if john doesn’t appear at trial?
　　- abc shoe manufacturing inc. is suing an independent contractor, jay fox, the plumber, for improper plumbing installation that had caused a damage of the showroom floor for an amount of $800. does abc have the right to make a claim in court without a lawyer? why?
　　- a rottweiler owned by joe marino attacked jane dow and she is suing joe marino for damage of $4,500. benny lee, the dog trainer was subpoenaed to testify on the behavior of the dog. will benny get paid for doing so? if benny failed to appear in court, would a paper prepared by him stating his expertise be a valid piece of testimony to be used at the trial?

　　² using the sample contract in part five, identify all aforementioned elements that appear in it.