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brp6655 · Dec 1, 2010, 01:11 PM

I was the Plaintiff in a small claims case. The judge ruled for the defense. There are no monetary awards except I am ordered to pay the Defendants attorney's fees. I cannot pay as I am on social security. What can I do, if anything?

ebaines · Dec 1, 2010, 01:26 PM

Please clarify - attorneys aren't used used in small claims court, so why are there attorney fees here?

Being on social security is not an excuse for failing to pay a judgment. If you don't pay be prepared to have your bank account garnished.

brp6655 · Dec 1, 2010, 01:44 PM

In Lee County, Florida, you can have an attorney in small claims. I thought the case would be so strong and in my favor that I could handle it without an attorney. The defendant obviously did not feel good about his defense and hired an attorney. Obviously the judge did not like me as serving pro se as opposed to the defendant. He ruled against me on every motion, objection and almost all evidence. If this is a good old boys network, I would probably be wasting my time on an appeal if I could even get it pro-bono.

The social security comment is basically saying I am judgement proof. No assets and they cannot attach social security so the attorney will be wasting his time trying to collect.

ebaines · Dec 1, 2010, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by brp6655

In Lee County, Florida, you can have an attorney in small claims.

Interesting - I wasn't aware of that. Seems antithetical to the concept of small claims court.

Originally Posted by brp6655

The social security comment is basically saying I am judgement proof. No assets and they cannot attach social security so the attorney will be wasting his time trying to collect.

Yes, but be aware that if you have your SS checks deposited in your checking account they will likely try to garnish it, and then the onus is on you to prove that the only source of funds in the account is your SS. In the mean time your account may be frozen - at least for a few days.

brp6655 · Dec 1, 2010, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by ebaines

Interesting - I wasn't aware of that. Seems antithetical to the concept of small claims court.

Yes, but be aware that if you have your SS checks deposited in your checking account they will likely try to garnish it, and then the onus is on you to prove that the only source of funds in the account is your SS. In the mean time your account may be frozen - at least for a few days.

I agree, I thought small claims was attorney free. Welcome to Florida and the good old boys network.
Thanks for the tip about SS checks. That will be easy to prove but inconvenient to have the account frozen for a few days but it will be worth it.

Fr_Chuck · Dec 1, 2010, 06:40 PM

There are some areas that do allow, but judges will rule on motions and evidence according to laws and rules of evidence, if they did not, that allows you an appeal..

In court, one side with an attorney has a real advantage, since they can word things in ways, that if youu don't know, can't defend against them

brp6655 · Dec 2, 2010, 11:44 AM

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

There are some areas that do allow, but judges will rule on motions and evidence according to laws and rules of evidence, if they did not, that allows you an appeal..

In court, one side with an attorney has a real advantage, since they can word things in ways, that if youu don't know, can't defend against them

Fr_Chuck;2618692, thank you for your comment. You are correct in your statement that one side with an attorney has a real advantage. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way. I am having the Lee County Bar Association checking in to my case and seeing if they can get an Appellate Attorney to view this on a pro-bono basis. I feel the jucge made many errors in my case since the other side had an attorney and he seemed to lose patience with me. He ruled against every motion,every objection and most evidence I submitted. In addition, he never had me sworn in as a witness. None of this may mean anything but if I can get an Appellate Attorney to review, at least I will have an answer.

AK lawyer · Dec 3, 2010, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by brp6655

... In addition, he never had me sworn in as a witness. ...

Did the judge say he didn't believe what you said? If not, it is probably harmless error.

brp6655 · Dec 3, 2010, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by AK lawyer

Did the judge say he didn't believe what you said? If not, it is probably harmless error.

The judge never said he did not believe me. He just gave me this evil stare and said nothing. I have been in courtrooms in 5 different states and this judge ranks as the worse. You could barley hear him. When I askede him to please repeat an answer, he replied in a lower voice. Even th3e defense attorney had hearing problems with him.

In any case, the Lee County Bar Association is placing me in touch with an Appellate Attorney who will give me a free 30 minuite consultation. Hopefully he can advise me accordingly.

Thank you.