Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

You are wasting your time. You have no right to appeal from a small claims judgment in favor of the defendant when you are the plaintiff. "The plaintiff in a small claims action shall have no right to appeal the judgment on the plaintiff's claim..." (Code of Civ. Proc., sect. 116.710 subd (a).) If a judgment had been entered against you on the countersuit, you could have appealed form that, but since the judgment was in your favor on the countersuit, you can't appeal that either.

Why didn't you get legal advice BEFORE you filed paperwork? See how expensive it is when you DON'T speak to a lawyer first?!

Mr. Roach has given you an answer that is completely technically correct but utterly unhelpful. He is correct that you cannot appeal to the Superior Court, but you can move to vacate the judgment for an error of law under CCP sec. 116.725. If you mistakenly filed an appeal, you best get a 116.725 motion filed right away.

As for Mr. Roach's assertions that you needed to hire a lawyer before going into this, I'm just flabergasted. What in the world is the point of Small Claims, where lawyers are prohibited, if you have to hire an attorney in order to get justice there. What you need to do is spend some time preparing a VERY short (two pages, three max, double spaced) written brief (a concise explaination of the facts and law on why you should win) explaining why the decision is wrong. With the help of your local law librarian, you should be able to find some books that will give you the legal authority to show that you have a right to sue for services rendered without a written contract. If you really just don't feel you can write up something like that after a visit to a law library, THEN would be the time to see if you can find a lawyer to spend a couple of hours with you to pull something together and coach about how to present your case.

Oh wait, lawyers are so expensive! That's right, just like it was for you to get on here and ask your question, which cost so much of your hard earned cash. Good luck with that motion where you get your legal advice from an unlicensed law librarian and you tell the Commissioner just what a big idiot she is and how your oral contract is enforceable despite her legal knowledge. I'm sure she'll roll right over and see the error of her ways.

For other people who read this, please be advised that many courts have a FREE clinic known as a small claims advisor's office. It is run by a licensed attorney, who knows what they are doing, and contrary to Mr. McCormick's GALACTICALLY STUPID legal advice, won't cost you a dime. Go to the small claims advisor's office BEFORE you file a lawsuit. You don't have to hire an attorney, they can advise you on what to do.