I Won $19,000 in a Small Claims Lawsuit

Won an unpaid labor suit. I was the last case on an unusually stacked docket. I was in the courtroom for 7 1/2 hours, not including a forced 2 hour recess. Childhood friends turned sworn enemies over a broken handshake, a real estate agent fighting her broker over a stolen listing, and an autistic elderly cat woman performing her 380 page manifesto of grievances against their corporate landlords for 2 hours. The landlords all hire big city lawyers, who cut the commoners down to nothing. The judge should’ve stopped the fight and dismissed the case, but she let it happen. They played a recording of the cat lady screaming about pissing on their floors in protest of maintenance refusing to clean out her bedpan she reverted to when they refused to unclog her toilet. We all heard. Her face turned the color of raw meat. She wept. Case dismissed. Case dismissed. Case dismissed. Ding. Ding. Ding.

I prepared my case for 3 months, but the judge was in a bad mood by this late in the evening. I have three people to pay, including my own father, and their fate was in my hands. We built something for a cannabis company, they decided they didn’t want to pay. It’s been a 9 month battle that has torn a rift through a dear friendship that will never be repaired. He says the company’s CEO fell off the wagon and started boozing because of this lawsuit. My heart pounded as I approached the podium. I channeled my charming small-town Alabama roots and hit her with a “Good evening, ma’am.” A trick nobody else dared try. Lightened the mood with a joke. She laughed. The judge told me within 5 minutes that I was the kindest person she had encountered all day and, suddenly, she was putty in my hands. First piece of evidence was rejected as hearsay. Their lawyer probably thought they had me on the ropes, but I had a silver bullet they weren’t prepared for. A text message from their project manager approving the overage that caused this unjust enrichment. They were stunned. Like men who’d seen something holy and terrible. Like its very existence cracked God’s own silence. Maximum judgement. Every penny the state would allow. Walking out felt like a resurrection. Like some ancient victory from the mouth of defeat. The rush of it electric. I feel invincible. The relief I feel is unlike anything I’ve felt since I was a child. It’s been a hard year, yet I’ve been saved by an honest Christmas miracle— live and in person.

Exercise your judicial rights. Take a corporation to court and extract every penny you can!