Big Change Ahead for Small Claims Help

When Spencer and Mara Grant of Laguna Niguel wanted to sue their neighbor over barking dogs, they first called Carol Hatch for assistance. She’s director of the county’s Small Claims Court Advisory Program.

Hatch was so helpful, so terrific, the Grants say, they want to help her in return.

She needs it too. After 10 years of helping thousands seeking small claims advice, Hatch is getting the ax. So is her whole group.

Beginning July 1, the Small Claims Advisory Program’s functions will be taken over by the private, nonprofit Legal Aid Society of Orange County.

And there’s a chance that may turn out to be the best thing.

When Spencer Grant wrote me a most sincere letter of complaint about it, one thing seemed awry: He suggested this was self-serving on the part of court administrator Alan Slater.

Slater may be guilty of mistakes here and there. But self-serving? As a journalist, I’ve known him for 20 years, and the only serving I’ve seen Slater do is a 60-hour workweek. He sits on so many boards and devotes himself to so many civic causes, he rarely has a night to call his own.

That doesn’t mean the Grants are wrong in their assessment that this is a bad move for the county. But it seems Legal Aid deserves a chance to prove what it can do.

Here’s what happened:

Hatch’s small operation was getting $3 per small claim filed to operate. With small claims down in recent years, that amounts to about $125,000, and not nearly enough to fund the program. To know which side, the county or the courts, refused to fork over enough extra money to keep the program going depends on whom you talk to. The county and the courts are constantly at odds over money. Whichever side is responsible, Hatch and company got squeezed out.

So Slater called the state Administrative Office of the Courts to find out what his responsibilities were, now that the county program was doomed.

Turns out the state requires that a consumer program be kept going. So Slater turned to Legal Aid, which already has ties to the court system through other programs.

“It was a perfect match for us, and for the same amount of money,” said Jeannette McSkane, Slater’s director of court management services.

Legal Aid Society Relishes New Role

Bob Cohen, executive director of the Legal Aid Society, is excited about adding small claims advice to its litany of programs. He’s convinced its network of contacts can only enhance anyone’s chances of getting a dispute resolved--and in 151 different languages. An important goal, Cohen said, will be to help folks resolve their differences before going to court.

Anyone who calls the hotline that Legal Aid will establish will get a call back within five minutes, Cohen said. A staff of 12, paralegals and law students, has been trained on a variety of small claims matters by the state’s Department of Human Resources, he said. The hotline will be staffed between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays.

Legal Aid will also provide group sessions for those who want general advice on the ins and outs of small claims. Orange County residents also can get small claims information from a Web site that will soon be set up for them.

Carol Hatch, director of the current program, is not all that impressed with Legal Aid’s plans. “We had a Web site ready to go too,” she said; it was put on hold when she got the word her program was being abolished. And for years she’s offered group sessions.

The Small Claims Court Advisory Program, at its peak, had five advisors and a clerk. But it took a jolt from the county’s 1994 bankruptcy and never quite recovered. Hatch is down to just two assistants plus herself, with no clerical help.

Still, she’s getting nearly 200 calls a day. Sometimes it’s a matter of talking someone out of a claim. She explained:

“Your neighbor has called you a bunch of derogatory names and you want to take him to court over it. How do you prove you suffered any damages over it? We tell people like this that they’re just wasting their time.”

On the other hand, someone calls because a former friend owes her $300. But she’s worried about winning a claim because she has no proof. Hatch tells people like this to look for canceled checks, or any correspondence between them. Any kind of documentation at all can be helpful, she said.

The Spencers won their case against the neighbor with the barking dogs, and credit Hatch for it.

In a letter to a county supervisor, they expressed unhappiness that Hatch’s program would be replaced in part by electronic kiosks dispensing information on small claims. “This is like replacing one-on-one therapy with Ann Landers’ column,” they wrote.

But the Grants and other critics have made some erroneous assumptions too. They point out that Legal Aid is only for the indigent, and that would disqualify the vast majority of small claims applicants. Not so, says Cohen: Its program will be open to everyone.

My colleague Daniel Yi got a letter from a woman complaining that the Hatch program is free, but that the Legal Aid program will charge people by a sliding scale. Absolutely untrue, Cohen says. All small claims services will be free.

Maybe six months from now I’ll be writing that we all should have heeded the Grants’ advice. On the other hand, maybe the Grants will be willing to admit Legal Aid deserved a shot, and did well with it.

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Jerry Hicks’ column appears Monday and Thursday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling (714) 966-7789 or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com