Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Virginia

VA Small Claims Court Questions

I was involved in an auto accident recently and have a case scheduled in VA Small Claims Court next month to recoup the damages to my vehicle of $2900. I have a few questions related to the case:

(1) How do I know if / when the other party has been successfully served? The other defendant lives in MA and the serving process will be taking place via certified email. Since the clerk instructed me to mail a copy of the complaint immediately after filing it, my guess is that the defendant, now that he's aware of the suit, will do anything possible to avoid being served.

(2) A witness to the accident has sent me an email stating what he saw. Can I use the email as evidence or do I need to get a sworn affidavit? Or would it be better to have him testify in person? If I need a sworn affidavit, how do I get one?

(3) Ditto for photos of the accident�s damage � how do I get these entered into admissible evidence?

Thanks,

Mike


Asked on 2/14/08, 1:52 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: VA Small Claims Court Questions

1. You can contact the clerk's office and ask them to check the file to see whether service on the defendant has been effected.

2. Yes, the rules of evidence in small claims court are considerably more flexible than in regular general district court, and the email(s) should be admissible in support of your case(assuming, of course, that they have the necessary relevance). But,naturally, the live body of your witness testifying under oath in your behalf at the hearing would be considerably better than any email(s).

3.Likewise, photos of the accident scene should also be just as admissible as relevant evidence in your case as the emails.

From your questions, however, it would appear that you could use some instruction and guidance from an attorney as to how best to prepare and present your case at the hearing

in order to maximize your chances of prevailing in the matter, and I would consequently suggest that you hire a lawyer for a couple hours of her or his time who would be willing to instruct you on these matters.

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Answered on 2/16/08, 3:05 pm


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