Suites Without Lawyers
　　Any person has the right to sue another party for money judgment without a lawyer, or technically speaking "pro se". Pro se (pro-say) means by or for yourself. Each state sets own limits for so called small claims. Such claims usually arise from improper car or appliance repair, defaults in rent or loan payments, return of rent deposit, and so forth. For example, in Illinois the small claims limit is $5,000 dollars. State laws and judges facilitate more expeditions and less formal adjudication of such claims for damages than in other cases and court proceedings.
　　A person pursuing a claim in court is called "plaintiff" and a person being sued is called "defendant". Plaintiff files a "complaint" stating plaintiff's and defendant's names, home or business addresses, dates, events and gist of the claim. Copies of receipts, contracts, estimates and pictures must be identified in and attached to the complaint. Every paragraph must be numbered and brief. The complaint has to specify the relief sought by the plaintiff from the court.
　　Legal entities, such as corporations, partnerships, trusts or associations, may be prohibited by statutes from litigation without attorneys. Minors can be represented by their parents. Anyone who reached the age of majority can be a pro se plaintiff.
　　A defendant must be served with a summons and a complaint. If the wrong defendant is served, or the service of process is otherwise done improperly, no court judgment will be valid. A defendant may be served by certified mail or through sheriff. Service on a defendant-corporation must be either on any officer of the corporation or its registered agent.
　　If the properly served defendant does not appear at trial, then a default judgment will be enterd against that defendant. If the plaintiff does not appear at trial, then the case will be dismissed for want of prosecution.
　　A complaint must identify the parties by names, principal place of business of a company or home address of a defendant, the place of the occurrence, acts of the parties, allegation of the wrong and remedy sought. State statutes proved that the winning party is entitled to costs incurred, such as filing fees, sheriff's charges and cost of subpoenas served on witnesses.
　　Attorney's fees are rarely awarded by judges, unless the statute relied the party specifically gives such a right.
　　A defendant must file an appearance and pay the appearance fees within thirty days of service upon that defendant. A written answer has to be filed only in cases involving the amounts in excess of $5,000.00 or other minimum limits set by the state law. A defendant also can file a counterclaim against the plaintiff for poor workmanship and resulting damages, or money owed to the defendant-counterplaintiff.
　　One party may request the other party produce documents and things, answer interrogatories (questions to be answered under oath) and take part in depositions (oral discovery or questioning of a witness or a party in the presence of a court reporter) if the judge or law allows this.
　　Witnesses can be subpoenaed (the subpoenas are issued by the court) for trial. A witness is entitled to a statutory fee plus mileage reimbursement. Witnesses can testify about the events (what they saw or heard) or give opinions on matters within their expertise. For example, a mechanic can opine on the quality of engine repair, a doctor can give opinions about the health problems, a dog trainer about the dog behavior, and so on.

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