Someone at work filed a lawsuit against someone who owed him money. He got a faxed letter to settle their dispute in their forum, The People’s Court.
Other than being very impressed that this actually happened to someone we know, we’ve been debating whether he should do it or not? So what’s YHO?
Nope. The $$ involved isn’t enough to risk making an ass of myself on TV.
As I understand it, the People’s Court (and similar shows) provide that if the plaintiff wins, the show will pay the plaintiff the amount he or she is awarded, if any.
In my experience with small claims court, the most difficult problem is often collecting any judgment that is awarded. Depending on the amount at issue and the difficulty the plaintiff will have in collecting any award, it might be worthwhile from the standpoint of minimizing your litigation risks of collecting an award, over and above (or under and below) any interest or disinterest in going on TV and yelled at by a TV judge.
One of the people in my mother’s office (long story short) was screwed by a deadbeat ex-boyfriend. She went on People’s Court and collected a judgement from the show that he would have never paid. When he stuck her with another debt, she happily went onto the show again, and got some more money.
I’ve watched many a Court show in my day, and the disclaimer at the end says that the plaintiff gets paid whatever is awarded out of a fund, anything left over from that fund, the loser gets.
IOW, it’s a win-win situation. I’d be there in a hearbeat.
Hell yes, he should go on.
The worst part of small claims court is collecting the judgment. If you win in court, all you get is a piece of paper that says Don Defendant owes you money. You know what you can do with paper.
If the amount is relatively picayune there’s a good chance your friend will never get it out of his adversary’s hide. On the show, the producers pay the judgment if the plaintiff wins. If the plaintiff loses, he still gets the appearance fee, so it’s a sweet deal.
By all means, do it!
Zap!, Esq.
People’s Court, yes, Judge Judy? Never, forget it!!! lol
My kickboxing instructor went on the People’s Court, him as the defendant, his roommate as the plaintiff. His python had bit his roomie (not badly), and they agreed to go on the show as a joke or something. Since the plaintiff gets money from the show, they were hoping to have him win, so they could split the winnings.
They put on a good show of arguing with each other, but my instructor won, and they didn’t get any money.
First of all, The People’s Court is still on?! I hope Dustin Hoffman still appreciates it.
Second, if it was a sure win, I’d go. Especially if I knew that the other person would get embarrassed on TV. It could be fun.
Well, that’s what happened in the case that Billdo mentioned. The girl we know won and didn’t get yelled at. The creepy ex-boyfriend lost and got totally reamed out. I imagine that seeing the creep get humiliated was satisfying for her.
I was called many years ago for People’s Court. I sold a waterbed to someone in my apt. complex for payments, had the girl sign a contract, checked the license to verify name, signature, etc… They didn’t pay, so I filed at small claims court. A week later, PC called and asked if I’d do it there. I was ALL OVER THAT SHIT!!! To be on Wapner? Oh hell yes! A couple weeks later, they called again to cancel it because they couldn’t find the girl. She had moved and the cops were looking for her anyways for using fake ID’s with different names, credit cards, etc… Had my chance, and got screwed all around. But I was thrilled at the chance. Probably cuz I was the plaintiff, but still…
Just not long ago I saw John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) on Judge Judy… it was great!
I don’t know, my vindictive side wants the person I am suing to pay out of his own pocket - I don’t want someone else to cover his debt, or for him to profit from my lawsuit in any way.
On the other hand, I want money…
I guess it really depends.
Marilyn is the judge for PC these days. Shes very nice to watch.
But you see, Judy has a way with bringing out all the dirt you might not want the world to see. It ain’t worth it to me to have that done.