Business Law 101 / TV COURTS

Business Law 101 / TV COURTS

By Albert L. Kelley, Esq.

The People’s Court, Hot Bench, Judge Faith, America’s Court, Judge Joe Brown, Justice with Judge Mablean, and of course Judge Judy – these are the mainstays in the current lineup of television courtrooms. While many people try to ignore such frivolities as these, there is a benefit for the businessperson watching these shows. While truTV displays real lawyers trying real cases, the trials they show are generally lengthy, complicated events. While informative, they offer little in the way of basic court instruction. What you find in TV Court is an instruction manual on how to present a claim or defense in small claims, even though the proceedings are nothing like what you will see in a real courtroom.

Generally, the television courtrooms handle what are known as small claims cases. These are cases where the claim is for a small amount of money (In Florida, the small claims limit is $5,000). Under Florida law, small claims is the one place where a corporation may represent itself without the use of an attorney. In fact, small businesses find themselves in small claims court much more frequently than County or Circuit Court. This is because most disputes in small business are for small amounts, and because Small Claims Court is more user friendly than County or Circuit Court.

This is where the television courtrooms are a benefit. Most of the time, these judges, while trying to be entertaining, also try to explain the rules of law that they use when determining their cases. They often explain not only the particular state law that governs a particular case, but general legal principles and evidentiary rules that will help the parties prevail on their case in other jurisdictions. Probably the best example of this is Judge Marilyn Milian, a Miami judge who now hosts “The People’s Court”.

The cases that appear on these shows are typical of the cases that usually appear in small claims cases, although the proceedings are much less formal than you would find in a real courtroom. Also, the mistakes made by the people appearing on these shows are typical of the mistakes that occur in small claims cases. By watching the shows and studying the proceedings that occur, a business person may strengthen their ability to proceed and prevail.

The most frequent mistake made by the parties in small claims court is the lack of proper documentation. If you are in business, you are expected to keep records, such as invoices, receipts, work orders, etc. If these are required to prove your case, have them available at the hearing. Do not bring copies. Copies can be faked; the Court wants originals. If the business uses a receipt book, it helps to keep the carbon copies in the book so the court can see the sequence before and after. Do not bring a check book register to prove a check was written; bring the cancelled check. Also, do not tell the judge that you forgot the record or that you didn’t think it was important. As a party to the lawsuit, you will not know what may become important at trial. It makes sense to have more than you will need, rather than not enough. If a document is even tangentially connected to the case, bring it.

Another mistake is asking for things that cannot be granted. One of the most common errors here is asking for lost time from work to appear in court, or asking for pain and suffering in a breach of contract case (pain and suffering are rarely awardable and only in specific types of cases-not breach of contract). Study your available remedies before filing your case to ensure the Court can legally award what you are asking for.   Another issue is not being able to prove your damages. If a plaintiff comes to Court and cannot document their actual damages, the Court cannot create damages for them. The court cannot award speculative damages or possible damages. They must be provable.

Al Kelley is a Florida business law attorney located in Key West and previously taught business law, personnel law and labor law at St. Leo University. He is also the author of “Basics of Business Law” “Basics of Florida’s Small Claims Court” and “Basics of Florida’s Landlord-Tenant Law” (Absolutely Amazing e-Books). This article is being offered as a public service and is not intended to provide specific legal advice. If you have any questions about legal issues, you should confer with a licensed Florida attorney.

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