Orange County Superior Court Limited Jurisdiction
ASs an Attorney, I don’t do a lot of Orange County Superior Court cases, but from time to time I come across them. Today I poke with a woman from Riverside County who was having a small contract dispute with a prospective defendant located in Orange County, and wanted to hire an Attorney to help her.. What I learned today, is that all Civil Litigation in Orange County, is done at the Orange County Superior Court at the Central Justice Center: 700 Civic Center Drive, Santa Ana 92701 including all limited jurisdiction cases. I should have known that, but out of sight out of mind.
See the prospective civil defendant lives and operates out of Laguna Nigel, and the amount in controversy is around $12,000 so I thought there might be local satellite court in that parto of orange county. Apparently even limited jurisdiction cases (ie cases with damages under $35,000) are litigated at the Central Justice Center, in Santa Ana. Which in this situation, is bette for me, as an Attorney living in Moreno Valley, because its much easier to get to the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana for me, than to get to any location in South Orange County.
You might ask what is the case about, and why do they need an Attorney. Well the reason why the client needs an Attorney is because the did some construction work as a sub-contractor, for a construction contractor, and the general contractor didn’t pay them fo the work done. And so no now the prospective client wants to sue them for the unpaid amount, which is $11,000. Not a large amount, but for a business to business dispute is too much for small claims court. (which, I ronically would be at a different Courthouse, specifically Costa Mesa Justice Complex: 3390 Harbor Boulevard, Costa Mesa, CA 92626). Instead its a case for “limited jurisdiction” which is still file in Superior Court, but which is litigated using a slightly different, slightly more efficient and streamline process for resolving the case. Though apparently a lot of attorneys find ways to clog up limited jurisdiction court as well.
As an Attorney,, I prefer not to these smaller cases, but I understand that they are still significant problems for the clients. The unpaid $11,000 represents 1/3 of the contract, so getting cheated on it it a real hti for most small business people. The prospective client agrees that as a matter of principle they can’t let it go, and realistically it should settle. I find myself representing contractors and subcontractors more an more, and I’m sure if I help her on this small case, there should be something bigger along the way.
Anyways, I’m Attorney Thomas Hrouda, and I handle civil litigation in Southern California.