“Geez, what a jerky judge,” I thought as I sat next
to my best friend, Brian Pace, a student at the Southern California
Institute of Architecture.
Pace was testifying against his former landlord, describing how
the businessman had cheated him out of his security deposit and
tried to harass him into not telling anyone. The Honorable Judge
Jerk stared at the surface of his desk as he massaged his
temples.
Pace initially did not want to go to court because he had
reasoned that it was only a few hundred dollars and that the time
and effort wouldn’t be worth it.
“But Brian,” I protested, “what about the
principal of the issue? What about justice and the American way and
revenge?”
I was naive; I’ll admit it. I had a lot to learn about
dealing with the legal system, especially as a college student.
We spent hours on the phone with Los Angeles Small Claims Court
advisors. They were helpful but they couldn’t answer complex
questions about the specifics of our case, such as how to respond
to threatening phone calls.
Pace had to fork over almost $100 in filing fees and serving the
papers to his landlord, spend time compiling evidence and making
copies, plus take a day off work.
The whole process was extremely draining and made me realize
just how adverse the legal system is to college students. Working
and going to school full time does not leave a lot of room to spend
hours researching and preparing to go to court, not to mention
trying to figure out which laws applied to this particular
circumstance.
Professor Pamela Hobbs, who teaches a class about First
Amendment law at UCLA, told me in an e-mail, “I think that
basic knowledge about the legal system and how it works should be a
part of our educational system at the primary and secondary levels.
I looked at a high school American government textbook (last year),
there was only a one-page description of the American legal
system!”
Since most college students are just beginning life on their
own, few are aware of the intricacies of the law.
There are many resources for students to receive free legal
counsel. At UCLA, legal advice is dolled out at no cost to students
every day in Dodd Hall.
L.A. County also has small claims advisors, but be cautious.
They often gave me conflicting information and it was difficult to
find clarification.
Brian and I were lucky to benefit from the pro-bono services of
Greg Strickland, a lawyer in Central California (full disclosure:
He’s my dad). He advised Brian to get his landlord to send
his threats through e-mail instead of on the phone so he could make
copies and show the judge.
Aside from more thoroughly covering the law in our educational
system, the court system itself could be altered. It should be less
difficult. As it stands now, the processes involved makes the
prospect of going to court, even when you know you are in the
right, an intimidating task.
Small claims court should be replaced with binding mediation,
meaning that instead of appearing in front of a judge in court, the
two parties could talk out the situation with a mediator who had
the power to decide how to resolve the dispute.
Unlike the kind of services in L.A. County, which offer to
mediate disputes between two parties but have no power to force a
decision ““ and are therefore usually viewed as a waste of
time ““ this arbitrator would be a judge or attorney.
The two parties go to the mediator, talk out their case, attempt
to come to an agreement, and if that proves impossible, the
mediator could decide the dispute in one party’s favor.
The process would be far less daunting than your standard court
experience. You can just calmly discuss the situation instead of
standing before the imposing bench.
Most importantly, the parties would be required to bring the
money in dispute to the mediation so payment could be made
immediately to the winner.
After emerging from the courtroom victorious, our celebrating
was cut short when Pace’s former landlord told us he would
not pay the judgment.
So one month later we’re back on the phone with small
claims advisors, trying to figure out where his old landlord banks
so we can file a form that allows the sheriff to take the money
directly out of his account.
While all this may seem simple enough, it takes more time and
stress, and it will probably end up costing another $50.
All in the name of justice, the American way and … OK, sure,
we’re doing it for the revenge.
If you’d like to harass Strickland’s best
friend, send your bank account numbers to
kstrickland@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.