Posts Tagged ‘ Small Claims Court ’

Gambling for Justice: Class Action Lawsuit v. Small Claims Court, Place Your Bets

January 13th, 2012. By

It’s a well-chronicled sentiment: class action lawsuit lawyers get rich on attorneys’ fees and the little guy gets stiffed. Whether true or not—and there are arguments on both sides—it’s easy to see how a settlement check for $1.13 can make a plaintiff feel like ‘thanks, but no thanks’. And that brings us to the case of Heather Peters, who is suing Honda in small claims court over her claim that Honda engaged in false advertising when it stated her 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid had a 50 MPG rating.

Small claims court? Isn’t that only for some kind of ‘my boyfriend split with my smart phone and $800 I had under the mattress” type of reality tv show crap?

Well, no—and that’s the point—or calculated bet—Peters is trying to make. See, according to the Honda Civic Hybrid Class Action lawsuit proposed settlement FAQ, each class member would receive $100 as settlement. Peters, who is a former attorney herself, deems that a bit of a paltry sum and so she took the route that most of us do not and she chose to opt out of the proposed settlement. And, in turn, she took her complaint to small claims court.

What’s intriguing about her choice is that, not only can she seek up to $10,000—the new 2012 limit set for small claims in California where the complaint is being heard—but, if she can persuade enough 2003-2009 Honda Civic Hybrid owners to follow suit (no pun) and head to small claims court, she estimates that Honda would be liable for nearly $2 billion—vs the current liability they face coming out of the class action lawsuit in which each class member would receive $100.

Talk about power to the people—if only the people took to the power—by February 11, 2012—the date by which class members’ opt out requests to the Settlement Administrator need to be postmarked.

At issue in the Honda Civic Hybrid Class Action lawsuit is not just that advertised miles per gallon (MPG) ratings for the car were misrepresented, but also—and here’s where a subclass of class members enters into the picture, to which Peters also belongs—that for model years 2006-2008, Honda Civic Hybrid (HCH) owners were told their cars needed a software update to the Integrated Motor Assist (“IMA”) battery system.

What HCH owners didn’t know—and American Honda Motor Co. apparently did not disclose—was that allegedly, in order to install the update, the result would be a negative impact on fuel economy. Not ideal when the primary reason you purchased the car was for its fuel economy.

You can start to see where $100 per claimant—worth what? a couple of tank fills?—isn’t sounding like much.

So Peters is placing her bets on small claims court. But as stated earlier, it’s a bit of a calculated bet for her–she’s done, and doing her homework. Just see her website. And she says that anyone can do the same.

But would you?

Prepping for small claims court, sans an attorney of course as that’s part of the charm of small claims court—no lawyers allowed—takes time. And, you do have to have the ability to put together a pretty darn good case, particularly if you’re taking on a major corporation. Given that, it comes down to whether you think it’s worth it, or not. And that’s probably why so many of us sit back and await whatever settlement check we receive.

You have to admire Peters though. She’s up for a fight, and she’s got a pretty good one from the looks of it—perhaps even a new profession in behind-the-scenes small claims coaching. And, at least she is not just sitting back and complaining about attorneys’ fees—she’s trying to take a stand, both literally and figuratively.

Peters’ next hearing date is January 25.

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Posted in Class Action, Consumer Fraud, Emerging Issues | 1 Comment »

DIY Legal Help: Do you Really Need a Lawyer?

November 3rd, 2011. By

LawyersandSettlements.com receives a lot of inquiries asking whether or not it’s really necessary to obtain a lawyer if you’re trying to file a lawsuit. Pleading Ignorance is responding to all those questions and the answer is…yes, and no. But there’s a very simple and basic “litmus test” you can try to help you figure out what—or who—you need..

One way to help determine whether you’d benefit from having a lawyer is to consider how much is in it for you. Now, that might sound a bit opportunistic, and to some degree it is—but it’s also the reality of most personal injury lawsuits: someone’s been injured, someone caused the injury, and damages will be due. The question everyone wants the answer to is “how much?”

While you won’t be able to gauge exactly how much you might receive in damages—nor will anyone else until your case unfolds–you probably will have an estimate of what your out-of-pocket expenses have been for things like medical care, physical therapy, car repairs, lost wages…things like that. Once you add those up so you have a rough estimate (keeping in mind it will most likely not include everything you might be able seek damages for in an actual lawsuit), your next step is to visit your state’s Small Claims Court information center to find out what the maximum damages your state allows are—that’s the maximum you’d be allowed to recover in Small Claims Court.

If your expenses, as a result of the harm or injury done to you or your property, exceed your state’s maximum allowed damages in Small Claims Court, chances are you’ll need to consider a formal civil lawsuit, which in most instances will require a lawyer. Formal civil lawsuits need to follow civil procedure (i.e., “Rules of Civil Procedure”), and that process tends to be a bit (ok, a lot) more complicated for most folks. So if you’re seeking to recover damages that exceed what you’d potentially recover from Small Claims Court, an attorney can help you navigate the process and the filing of all the necessary forms and paperwork.

The following is a list of links for each state’s Small Claims Court information:

If after reviewing the expenses associated with your injury you conclude that the damages you’re seeking would be more than what your state Small Claims Court allows, you can submit a complaint for an attorney to review here.

For additional state legal news and information, visit our State Law Pages.

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Posted in Emerging Issues, lawsuits, Lawyers | 2 Comments »

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