“It is the mission of the District Court of Maryland to provide equal and exact justice for all who are involved in litigation before the Court. It is the sworn obligation of the judges of the Court to ensure that every case tried herein is adjudicated expeditiously, courteously, and according to law, and with the fullest protection for the rights of all who are involved, for the most extraordinary aspect of the judiciary in a free society is that even while exercising the vast authority entrusted to them, judges remain the servants, and not the masters, of those on whom they sit in judgment.”
District Court Mission Statement
Maryland’s District Court is the lowest level trial court in Maryland. Maryland’s Constitution was amended to create the District Court on July 5, 1971. It handles all claims arising in Maryland for civil claims under $5,000.00. These claims are called small claims, and the district court is known sometimes as “small claims court.” The court also handles certain types of criminal charges, and larger civil claims up to $30,000.00, actions for repossession of personal property (replevin), landlord-tenant actions, zoning infractions, enforcement of certain administrative agency rulings, and petitions for peace orders (restraining orders) among other types of cases.
The Maryland Rules of Civil Procedure Title 3 govern the operation of the District Court for civil cases. This article will be discussing the rules and logistics of a small claims case as defined in Rule 3-701 (2009). A small claim is commenced by paying the filing fee and submitting the Complaint in a claim amount not exceeding $5000.00. Small claims are often not tried by Attorneys, but by the individual parties themselves or corporate officers of the party. A company can be represented by its officers only in a small claim action. In all other civil actions it must be represented by a lawyer. A Small claim is designed to be quickly moved through to a trial to provide the parties a quick and efficient resolution of the case. In keeping with encouraging a speedy trial schedule trials are general set for 60 from the date of the Defendant filing the Complaint. For a small claim the rules of evidence (as set forth in MD Rules Title 3 chapter 5) are relaxed and “The Court will conduct the trial of a small claim action in an informal manner.” MD Rule 3-701. Finally, pretrial discovery (depositions, interrogatories, requests for production of documents and requests for inspection of property or persons) available in the circuit court and other District Court claims are not available.
The effect of these small claim rules is a quick but sometimes unpredictable trial. Trial attorneys are notorious for leaving no stone unturned in pretrial discovery. This diligence is often reflected in a large cost for the client both in attorney’s time, document copy costs and lost opportunity cost for the time that you have to spend looking through the documents. A small claim case avoids these costs, but as a result the trial can be unpredictable since the other side can bring documents into court that you’ve never seen before. It a tactical advantage also to be able to surprise witnesses or the other party with prior statements or documents which are inconsistent with their testimony on an issue, and which can help you discredit their testimony in the eyes of the judge. While most cases with lengthy pretrial discovery are rehearsed and thought out in every potential detail before trial, small claims trials really can be some of the most dramatic and exciting trials to observe because of the potential for surprises. While it’s best not to get caught on the wrong side of a surprise, how you cope with an unexpected bit of evidence or a witnesses’ flawed memories are what must be accounted for on the spot, both in witness rehabilitation and in argument. Experience counts. The more experienced the litigation or trial attorney the better the chance that they have previously encountered the surprise that they are facing and the better equipped they will be to react and recover and importantly mitigate the damage.
Yet all this drama can be essentially for naught, because either side has the right to a De Novo Appeal in the Circuit Court. For a nominal fee the district court trial will be thrown out and a new trial will be conducted in the Circuit Court by a different Judge. A De Novo Trial mean that the case is re tried be a new judge. The witnesses all have to come back and given their testimony, the evidence and documents will need to be presented, and the new judge will consider everything fresh and ignore the results of the prior trial. Because of this rule, it often does not make financial sense to have a lawyer represent you at the first trial in District Court, because for a small fee you can get another chance to present your case if things go poorly at the first trial. The second trial however is the last automatic appeal that the parties are entitled to. If the outcome of the Circuit Court appeal (trial) isn’t favorable you will have to file a Petition for Certiorari with Maryland’ highest Court the Court of Appeals in Annapolis. That court judge like the U.S. Supreme Court decides which cases it will hear and only grants review for a handful of cases compared the number of Certiorari Petitions filed. The second appeal will be based on the record e3stablished during the second trial.
So next time you have a dispute for a claim that is valued less than $5,000.00 you shouldn’t hesitate to head to small claims court to try to work it out. Most cases do settle without a trial, because the parties still control to some degree the outcome. If any attorney guarantees you a result or tells you that you cannot lose your case, be wary. You may have a strong case, but anytime you put on a case before a Judge there are no guarantees. For a small claim, the good news is that you can get another shot, and will have had at least one trial to gain experience and information from before you head on to circuit Court for a De Novo appeal.
