Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York

Small Claims Attorney

Hello...

I have two cases against the same defendant (two seperate unpaid invoices)in Queens County small claims court. The defendant has only showed up one time-- out of SEVEN court dates. He goes to the court to get an Order to Show Cause to Vacate Default Judgment and then deosn't show up again.

This is becoming extremely aggravating. I have two questions-- can he continue to do this? Forever? Indefinitely? Is there anything I should be doing to stop this?

Secondly, if I decided to, would it be possible for me to hire an attorney to take over at this juncture? (Our credit agreement with the defendant provides for attorney's fees).

Thanks so much! :-)


Asked on 1/18/05, 12:36 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mark S. Moroknek Kelly & Curtis, PLLC.

Re: Small Claims Attorney

No. He should not be able to do this forever. Why was it vacatesd?

Get the Judgment enforced before he vacates it. Or even better, don't allow it to get vacated; explain this problem, with proof of what has been going on, to the judge.

An individual plaintiff (non-corporate) generally can't be represented by an attorney in small claims court. That's the whole point. A corporation can be represented by counsel, or appear by an officer or employee.

How much is involved? If it is sufficient to get it into District Court, or Civil Court in Queens,

use an attorney during the day.

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Answered on 1/18/05, 8:03 pm


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