Forcing you to shut up or go to court isn’t great either, though.
On the big stuff where they’re liable for a lot of money and you might be able to get a pro bono lawyer, sure.
On the small stuff, though, the prospect of having to pay for a lawyer and likely have your case thrown out by a judge for not being worth the expense and effort of suing a foreign company is probably going to deter a LOT of legitimate claims.
If, for example, I want to return a game in accordance with the rules and they won’t let me, I’m not gonna lawyer up and sue them from the other side of the Atlantic.
I think the US small claims court is meant to handle situations like this (although I know little about it). I wonder if it’s available to litigants from other countries.
I don’t think it is. If it’s anything like the US court systems I know more about (criminal, juvenile, immigration, main civil court), it’s extremely backlogged already.
And that’s even before considering jurisdiction and how much more a lawyer licensed to practice in at least two countries charges.
Even IF you decided to go through with it in spite of everything, you could easily end up spending thousands of dollars fighting an $80 case and STILL be likely to lose.
I have heard that you don’t need a lawyer in small claims court (in the sense that it’s not really expected). Like I said, though, I know little about it. Maybe someone in a position to know will show up in this thread and fill us all in.
You don’t need a lawyer in small claims. Can also go with a paralegal or just represent yourself.
But that’s not why the small claims is backlogged anyway. I have actually no idea why it’s backlogged. I’ve been a defendant in a small claims court case since 2021 and nothing has progressed except for an arbitration hearing in 2022.
Edit: 2020s, not early 2000s. Fuck, it hasn’t been twenty years yet.
Forcing you to shut up or go to court isn’t great either, though.
On the big stuff where they’re liable for a lot of money and you might be able to get a pro bono lawyer, sure.
On the small stuff, though, the prospect of having to pay for a lawyer and likely have your case thrown out by a judge for not being worth the expense and effort of suing a foreign company is probably going to deter a LOT of legitimate claims.
If, for example, I want to return a game in accordance with the rules and they won’t let me, I’m not gonna lawyer up and sue them from the other side of the Atlantic.
I think the US small claims court is meant to handle situations like this (although I know little about it). I wonder if it’s available to litigants from other countries.
I don’t think it is. If it’s anything like the US court systems I know more about (criminal, juvenile, immigration, main civil court), it’s extremely backlogged already.
And that’s even before considering jurisdiction and how much more a lawyer licensed to practice in at least two countries charges.
Even IF you decided to go through with it in spite of everything, you could easily end up spending thousands of dollars fighting an $80 case and STILL be likely to lose.
I have heard that you don’t need a lawyer in small claims court (in the sense that it’s not really expected). Like I said, though, I know little about it. Maybe someone in a position to know will show up in this thread and fill us all in.
You don’t need a lawyer in small claims. Can also go with a paralegal or just represent yourself.
But that’s not why the small claims is backlogged anyway. I have actually no idea why it’s backlogged. I’ve been a defendant in a small claims court case since 2021 and nothing has progressed except for an arbitration hearing in 2022.
Edit: 2020s, not early 2000s. Fuck, it hasn’t been twenty years yet.