Judgment Day in the Court for the Little Guy : Justice: In this age of multimillion-dollar lawsuits, the Small Claims Division offers a striking difference.

It was 8:15 a.m. on judgment day for the crowd outside Courtroom 20. And the men and women locked in legal combat were coming down with a bad case of the nerves.

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The door to the courtroom was still locked, and outside, Nathan Speer was fidgety. His former landlord was suing him for $257.21.

Doug Patton was murmuring with the key witness he brought to back up his story. Patton stood a safe distance away from Robert M. Reidenbach, who would try to persuade the judge that Patton had aggressively grabbed his throat.

And Delisa Ford was hoping the court would order the moving company that dropped her old refrigerator to pay for a new one.

It was the beginning of another day in small claims court, where justice comes quickly and cheap.

In this age of multiyear, multimillion-dollar lawsuits, the Small Claims Division of the Ventura County Municipal Court offers a striking difference.

The stakes are relatively small--$5,000 is the largest amount that qualifies as a small claim. The filing fee is a mere $15. There is no jury, and the judge may be a part-time volunteer. Cases are usually resolved within six weeks of being filed. Lawyers are not allowed.

Tony N. Margott, co-owner of Excalibur Window Coverings in Thousand Oaks, said the beauty of small claims court is in its simplicity. “Put your proof on the table . . . and let the judge decide what’s right and what’s wrong,” Margott said. In the higher courts, he complains, loose rules give slackers too many chances to waste time and money.

For Margott, the small claims system has worked. In 12 years of going to court, the vertical blind manufacturer and wholesaler has yet to lose. And the judgments he has received made it easier for him to collect money from customers refusing to pay.

For others, even the relatively simple procedures of small claims court can be mystifying. “It’s a little confusing. It’s a little frightening to people who haven’t been to court before,” said Sandra Rose, manager of small claims for the county.

The county can help you with the paperwork, said Gregory Brose, the deputy district attorney who supervises the consumer and environmental protection divisions. Two small claims advisers within the district attorney’s office provide free advice, explaining to plaintiffs and defendants how best to present and organize their side of the story.

A total of 10,512 small claims cases were filed in 1993, and court officials expect just about as many cases to be filed this year, said Susan Boyd, a courthouse official. The number of cases has dropped since the high in 1992, when the court raised the maximum claim to $5,000.

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Of those cases filed last year, 8,822 ended up before a judge. The rest were dropped by plaintiffs or settled after being directed into alternative venues such as the district attorney’s Consumer Mediation Services or the nonprofit Ventura Center for Dispute Settlement.

But for cases that defied settlement, the participants were directed back to Courtroom 20 to get their day in court.

So it was for Fred E. Comer, landlord to 18-year-old Nathan Speer. After roll call in the courtroom of Municipal Court Judge Thomas J. Hutchins, a portion of the nervous crowd was assigned to Courtroom 23. There, Municipal Court Judge Pro Tempore Creighton A. Stephens was ready to hear their stories.

“What’s this all about?” the judge asked. Comer complained that Speer had not done the yard work that he was supposed to do in return for a discount in the rent. When Speer moved out of Comer’s Oxnard house in August, Comer sued him for the extra rent, a phone bill, the price of a key Speer had lost, and the wages Comer lost because of his time in court--a total of $257.21.

Speer said that he had done the weeding and lawn-mowing he was supposed to do and that Comer was suing because Speer refused to help Comer plant some cactus.

The judge thanked Comer and Speer for their time and instructed them they would be notified of his decision by mail.

The next case was more dramatic. It began with Reidenbach accusing Patton of attacking him in a Santa Paula trailer park clubhouse and grabbing his neck. Reidenbach also produced for the judge glossy 8-by-10 color photographs of what he described as his scratched and bruised throat.

Waving a photocopied page of a lawbook definition of battery, Reidenbach demanded that Patton be ordered to pay him the maximum $5,000 allowed in small claims court.

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Patton, for his part, played every bit the model senior citizen. “My wife and I were sitting at the table in the clubhouse. He came in there angry, in my opinion to start something,” said Patton, the manager of the mobile home park.

Reidenbach was using bad language, Patton said. “I told him, ‘Please don’t use that kind of language in here. My wife’s in here.’ ”

Patton said Reidenbach’s fists were clenched, as if he were about to attack. “The only thing I did was grab his arms,” Patton said. “I’m a very calm, cool, collected individual. I don’t jump on people. I haven’t drank any alcohol in 12 years.”

Patton then introduced his star witness: Jess Frutos, a contractor who did odd jobs for both Patton and Reidenbach’s mother, who lives in the park. Frutos said he did not see Patton grab Reidenbach by the neck; he only saw Patton grab Reidenbach by the arms.

The judge again thanked both parties, telling them he would send them his decision in the mail. “It could go either way,” Reidenbach said after the trial.

At last, it was time for the case of the broken refrigerator. Delisa Ford was suing Lord Moving & Storage for $725--the price of a new refrigerator, including tax and delivery, to replace the old one that the movers dropped down the stairs in February.

The moving company had already paid Ford $180 in March. The company’s contract with her promised that she would be reimbursed for damages at 60 cents a pound, and the company estimated that the refrigerator weighed 300 pounds.

But Ford said that $180 was not enough to replace her fridge. “I’m on a very tight budget and I can’t afford to buy a new refrigerator,” she told the judge.

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Stephens was not persuaded. He decided this case from the bench, ruling that Lord had fulfilled its obligation by paying the $180.

Ford accepted the defeat calmly. “I’d rather hear it from the judge than hear it from Lord Moving,” she said.

Immediately after the courtroom had cleared, Stephens issued his rulings in the other two cases, dictating the terms to the courtroom clerk.

The reason for the delay was not to give him time to consult his law books or ponder the evidence in the cases before deciding. Instead, it was simply because, in a courtroom without a bailiff, it is safer to issue verdicts by mail.