– Photo by John Meiu
Legal Aid and Defender Association Inc. (LAD) recently conducted a free workshop on small claims court at Brandon Township Public Library in Ortonville. The workshop is one of a series designed to teach residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb, and Oakland counties how to represent themselves in small claims court and collect money judgments. The series is part of LAD’s broad-based advocacy program. Kelly Bidelman (right), managing attorney of LAD's Oakland County office, conducted the workshop. Small claims is a judicial process in district courts for settling money disputes of $5,000 or less, Bidelman said. The limit was raised to $5,000 from $3,000 in September 2012 and will be raised in increments in the future, she said. "Both parties have to agree to be in small claims court,” Bidelman noted. “Neither party can be represented by an attorney or appeal a judgment of the court.” The workshop was opened by a guest speaker, Megan McCoy Dennis (left), a mediation specialist in the district court program of the Oakland Mediation Center. “Mediators are simply there to put the issues on the table and work toward a solution acceptable to all,” she said. Assisting the two at the workshop was Dan Hutchins (center), digital services librarian at Brandon Township Public Library.
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