Court Holds Session at Community Center

The litigants rose from their seats as Los Angeles Municipal Court Commissioner Rebecca Omens took her seat on the bench Wednesday morning.

“Welcome to Small Claims, otherwise known as the people’s court,” said Omens, addressing the 30 plaintiffs and defendants who stood before her.

By noon, Omens had rendered decisions on 11 cases that dealt with such disputes as unpaid rents, loans and homeowners’ association dues, an auto accident and shoddy workmanship on construction projects.

A typical morning at Small Claims Court?

Not exactly.

The cases were heard in the auditorium of the Bernard Milken Jewish Community Campus in West Hills to mark Law Day, an annual nationwide event held in May, whereby sessions are held outside the courtroom at venues within the district.

Wednesday’s session, organized by the Los Angeles Judicial District of the Municipal Court of California, consisted of small claims cases originating from the Municipal Court in Van Nuys.

Assisting Omens in some of the cases was L.A. Municipal Judge Debre Weintraub. Also present in the makeshift courtroom were two sheriff’s deputies and court clerk Alexandra Nicks.

About 80 senior citizens, most of them members of the West Valley Jewish Community Center, attended the proceedings.

“What the senior citizens saw today is the actual court system in process,” Weintraub said. “They realize now that two people witnessing the same incident can see and view it differently and, in order to settle disputes without violence, they leave it up to an independent judicial officer.”

One observer was Woodland Hills resident Dick Ehrig, who had expressed an interest in learning about Small Claims Court procedures without the bother of driving to Van Nuys to witness a session firsthand.

“They brought it to me, so I’m taking advantage of it,” Ehrig said.