which court ? jury or not

it really is up to you. most people here seem to file in small claims or federal, depending upon how comfortable they are with pro se representation. I have not seen anyone who actually had to go to trial in federal court, and no one to my knowledge posted on requesting a jury trial, but I may be wrong. Most small claims cases that I have read about on cn are just that, no jury, jus the judge.

 

Federal...since it would be a federal question, the amount of money in controversy doesn't come into play. This is my court of preference and I would suggest *always* requesting a jury trial.


Just my opinion...


L

 

I haven't checked in a while but it used to run roughly $350 to file a Federal case, while you can get away with paying less than $50-60 to file in a Circuit court (or whatever your jurisdiction calls the court which sits above the lowest court, usually called General District Court). This makes me think of an interesting point. Assuming that I'm right about the $$ difference to file in Federal over state court, are there any advantages to Federal over state? I know in most "circuit courts", you're entitled to depositions, interrogatories (the full fun and games of discovery) as well as a jury trial. Do you get anything else in Federal court?

 

bumpage

 

I think LKH is gone for now, but I will speak up instead. I know LizardKing always asks for a jury trial in his complaints. Plus, it makes more sense that if you are going for bigger damages and an "emotional"
decision based on a jury seeing the "little" consumer plaintiff go up against the "evil money hungry" CAs or the "IRS-like, incompetent" CRAs, to request a jury as opposed to a judge.

 

Oh a jury trial is a given and I bet you'd probably want to bring the case in an inner city instead of a well-to-do suburb to increase your chances of having a jury filled with credit-challenged members sympathetic to you. What I'd like to know is what advantages a Federal court gives you over a state circuit court. It's certainly going to cost more to file in Federal, what's the payoff?

 

Here the fee for filing a complaint is $150 in federal court. I have always gone with federal court because my cases have always been based on federal statutes. If you file in state court, it can be removed to U.S. District Court anyway, so I save myself the trouble. Also, I don't know if this is really true, but for some reason they seem to take me seriously when they get served a summons to U.S. District Court...lol. I like that the parties discuss the scope of discovery and come up with dates etc. *prior* to starting the discovery phase. I'm sure there are many reasons to choose one court or another and they will depend on the individual and the case.

Also...a jury interprets the facts while a judge interprets the law. Do you really want a judge to determine the facts in your case? Not me...I want a bunch of my peers to sort through the facts and through a preponderance of the evidence find for me (heee, heee...I sound like Matlock...lmbo!)

 

Federal court may be cheaper than state court (other than small claims). In state court (here in California) they charge for everything. Filing fee is between $100-200 depending on amount in controversy. Then they charge for each motion--$23 and $100 for summary judgment. If you go to trial, expect to pay for the jury (about $200 per day) and the court reporter ($375 per day paid by each side). In federal court, you just pay the filing fee of $150.

 

WOW! Is it really that much here in CA? I just got out here from VA and I know back in VA you could get the whole ball rolling in a "court of record" for less than $100. Is that for a "small claims" or "court not of record" in CA or is that for something higher up the food chain?