My first small claims case...

[cjtx]

I have been successful when dealing with cases in county court, so I decided to clean up my credit reports and go after an OC, who has been acting like a dirty old JDB, and I thought why not try justice court?

What a difference!!!!

You may get lucky and have a judge who is familiar with the law and relevant caselaw, but in this case, the judge's level of ignorance was appalling.

First, she allowed the defendant to introduce a lot of oral motions, even for partial summary judgment, without providing me a fair chance to respond. Despite being put on the spot, I did respond, but the judge did not check the cases I cited, so she ignored my arguments and granted SJ on several counts. It was specially troublesome how she failed to know about state law and the way the courts have interpreted the statutes...

So my case proceeded and the only thing left was my claims under FCRA, but with all the last minute rulings, my case got weaker than expected, and the fact that I could not use any of the lower standards of proof under state law, made my case go down the drain.

She ignored the part at the end of my pleading where I asked for any other relief, equitable or otherwise for which I am entitled, and prevented me from presenting common law claims.

I am very disappointed about the whole process. I guess if you take the time to educate the judge by appealing the case and having it remanded, it could be a good thing, but in general, small claims/justice court is better suited for trivial disputes where you need a mediator instead of a judge.