Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Small claims court

For the trial summary, explain in a few sentences what the defendant owes you and why. Avoid talking about what he or she *might* say, and just keep it short.

I am not sure what you mean by "bad faith." Unless the defendant is an insurance company, I have doubts that you will be allowed to raise the issue at all. Feel free to call me if you want to talk about what you mean by bad faith. My phone number is (650) 842-8481.

Re: Small claims court

Despite the informality of small claims court, you probably would not be permitted to add another distinct issue to your complaint without filing and serving an amendment. Your "bad faith" claim could fall into three categories:

1. Bad faith as an element of some harm already alleged in your complaint, in which case you can probably get away with describing the defendant's bad faith as a factor in the matter already properly before the court.

2. An act of bad faith independent of and occurring either before or after the incident(s) already alleged in your complaint would, as said, probably require a formal amendment to the complaint. Keep in mind that "bad faith" alone is not actionable. The defendant must have owed you a duty of good faith and breached it, to your detriment.

3. Finally, if the bad faith relates to efforts to settle the dispute now in litigation, the bad faith may not be admissible at all, since evidence about attempts by the parties to settle litigation before trial and outside of court is for many purposes inadmissible.

Re: Small claims court

To elaborate on what Bryan Whipple wrote, bad faith usually arises in a situation with a contract. A contract carries with it an implied duty of good faith and fair dealing. Most often it is raised in the insurance context since it permits recovery of attorney's fees. For a small claims case, would it be worth all the effort?