Small Claims Court and Business Disputes

What is small claims court? Small claims court is a way for individuals to work out disputes in court when claims are less than $7500.  It is a way for cases to be resolved quickly and with out the expense of hiring a lawyer.

You cannot ask the court to keep the defendant from doing something in particular.  It is for the recovery of personal or business property and money.

Small claims court is a venue to assist businesses to collect unpaid bills.  It is cost effective for collections since it eliminates the need of using a bill collection agency and lawyer.  A collection agency has a fee of what they collect, some as much as 50%.


About half of defendants brought to small claims court that simply owe a bill do not show up and contest the charges.  Making it easy for the court to settle the dispute in your favor.

In fact, many defendants end up settling the payment with the business before the court date once they see the business is serious about he unpaid bill and willing to take them to court over it.

If you do have a defendant that is going to dispute the bill you will need to make sure you have your paperwork in order and bring it with you to trial.

In a study conducted by the National Center for State Courts the found that of 996 small claims cases that went to trial, 20% of the time the defendant won the case and was not found to owe anything. Also, another 20% of the cases, the defendant was only ordered to pay a small part of the total bill.