Hello--
I've researched your situation and have some answers for you.
I am not an attorney but work in the consumer complaint industry and
deal with these kinds of questions all the time.
You're asking two main questions here. The first thing you're asking
is whether you can sue a business in small claims court. You said the
company paid you $3,000, but that amount is less than half the amount
you're owed.
You may certainly file a claim against this company in small claims
court. However, a small claim is just that: a small claim. Usually you
are allowed to only sue for a maximum of $2,500 or $3,000 in small
claims court. Any amount more than that and you'll have to file with
your local civil court.
The main difference in filing a small claim and a civil claim is the
cost and ease of filing. Average consumers can file small claims very
easily. And you don't need an attorney (although you may certainly
have one). It usually requires you to fill out about a half-page of
information at your local court and paying a nominal fee (usually
about $25 or $30). The day you fill out this information and pay your
fee, the clerk will set a court date for you and will send out a
notification to the defendant. That's it. That's all that's required.
A civil claim is a bit more extensive. While you can file a general
civil (non-small claim) on your own, maintaining an attorney is
recommended. When you're filing a civil claim, much more paperwork is
needed and it needs to be written in "legal-ese." This is often much
more costly than many people think it's worth.
The other aspect of this you need to take into consideration is the
location of the transaction. Where did the transaction take place?
This is the city or town where you'll likely have to file the small
claim. You should telephone the town or city hall at the spot of the
transaction to find out where you should file your case. This is
likely the city or town in which this company is located.
Your second question involves whether you can picket the store. You
have a First Amendment right to freedom of speech. And you have every
right to make signs. The two things I would recommend you take into
consideration when doing this include: 1) Be sure not to libel the
company, and 2) Don't trespass.
If you're going to create a sign, make sure it's truthful. Again, I'm
not an attorney. But making a sign that says, "[Business] doesn't pay
their bills!" perhaps isn't completely accurate. You know and have
proof of only one bill they haven't paid: Yours. Perhaps a better sign
would be "[Business] owes me money" or "[Business] didn't pay its
bill."
Also, you may walk on public sidewalks and streets to picket. But if
you're on private property and whoever owns the property doesn't want
you there, they have every right to remove you from the property.
Each state has its own rules about how to file small claims and civil
suits. I've pulled one informational site about filing a small claim
in California. The link is
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/smallclaims/
To search similar information about your state, I would recommend
using the following terms, using New Mexico as an example: "New
Mexico" "small claims"
You can read about libel at the Libel Defense Resource Center web
site. The link is http://www.ldrc.com/LDRC_Info/libelfaqs.html
I found a site about picketing you may find useful. The site lists a
number of articles about current pickets. You may be able to find some
things of value. The link is
http://www.lawmemo.com/emp/news/emp/q-pickets.htm
To conduct this research, I searched the terms: picket, libel, "small
claims"
I hope this helps! If you need any clarification, please don't
hesitate to ask!
darrel-ga |
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