Small Claims Jurisdiction Question

Re: Small Claims Court Jurisdiction Question

Computer printer purchased online (Oregon) from California and shipped to Oregon. Additional printer supplies also purchased at same time from vendor in state other than California and shipped to Oregon.

Printer manufacturer headquarters in Palo Alto California. Manufacturer acknowledges printer does not operate as advertised for specific operating system and that printhead life expectancy is one fifth (20%) of that stated on presales literature.

Manufacturer refuses to issue acceptable refund amount. Total amount under $5000.

Can small claim be filed in Oregon where the purchase was made or does it need to be filed in the state (California) where the manufacturer is located? If small claim must be filed in California, must it be in the county where manufacturer is located?

Can small claim be filed in Oregon where the purchase was made

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Yes, it can be filed in Oregon. The first question that you're asking has to do with jurisdiction. Before commerce on the 'Net, that was an area laden with considerations like "presence" and "minimum contacts" and "long-arm statutes". All states have now made their concessions to technology. But you've given consideration to this or you wouldn't pose the questions that you do. Oregon is contiguous to California. If you have a choice of forums, may I suggest that a more productive question may be "Can it be filed in Oregon and if so, is that the best place?"

If you file in Oregon, you must next be aware of your state's requirements for out-of-state service. You'll also want to check on whether the defendant is authorized to do business in your state and can be served in-state.

If you file in Oregon, serve in California and take judgment in Oregon, some of the things that you have to think about include:
1) getting good out-of-state service.
2) preparing to oppose a motion to quash service (for lack of jurisdiction - filed "just because")
3) enforcing the judgment that you might get - which leads to
4) domesticating your judgment in California.

If your potential defendant is a corp. of some size, all of those considerations may be moot. The defendant will have a presence in Oregon, maybe even a physical presence and assets. If it's a Mom-and-Pop, the considerations may be germane.

If small claim must be filed in California, must it be in the county
where manufacturer is located?

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I'd say yes and that wouldn't always be the answer. Were you thinking of just crossing the border and filing, if you had to file in California? Now you're asking about venue. Courts would give preference to your location IF you resided in another county in California. Since you don't reside in the state and you're coming in to sue, there's no reason to favor your location. Then they'd favor what was convenient for the defendant and the place where the evidence was located. On the facts, I think you risk a successful venue challenge, if you don't file where they're based.

Depending on the amount in contention and whether there were assets in Oregon, I'd consider filing by mail in Palo Alto, serving via a local process server and travelling down for the hearing, if there were no assets and doing the opposite if there were. You're weighing "home field advantage" in court against the time and cost of domesticating the judgment.

Thank you for very detailed information

Thank you dcatz for the very detailed information. The company in question is HP and they are very large. I do not know if they have a physical presence in Oregon but I will call their corporate headquarters 10/24/2005 and find out. You elude to there being a distinct difference between having a 'presence' and having a 'physical presence'. Assuming they do not have a physical presence in Oregon, your comments lead me to believe I would not meet with possible legal maneuvers if I file on their turf in Palo Alto and should probably do so. If they have a physical presence in Oregon, I would file in Oregon in the court closest to my residence where the online purchase was made. If my understanding is not correct (I'm not sure it is: presence vs physical presence) would you please correct me.

Thanks again for the information.

Suspected something like that. Shoulda just asked before going off, but it looked as if you had thought it through. Still does.

(To quickly put the "presence" business in place - States have an interest in taxing companies for business done in the State. Back in the day - a "presence" and "minimum contacts" could justify imposing the tax. Sometimes didn't take much. Salesman passing through once a week etc. Also, if a company was found to have a presence, it had to pay a fee to get authorized to do business and regular fees to stay authorized - you get the idea.)

As I used it, "physical presence" differs from "presence" in the sense that you want your judgment debtor to have a store, a plant, an office, A BANK ACCOUNT, so that you don't have to chase them back to their home state to enforce a judgment. You want to know that you can serve and, ideally, you want to know that you can enforce. Otherwise, go to them if it's almost as easy.

HP is huge in Oregon. Think they developed ink-jet technology in Corvallis. They'll be present in every sense. They'll be "authorized to do business". That means that they'll have a registered agent for service of process in the State. That means that you can file and serve in Oregon and keep the home court advantage. See if your Secretary of State has a web site and check there first. "Authorized" businesses file with the SofS and many States list companies and registered agents on such a site. If the information isn't there, I can't help you. Call the SofS and ask. The information is somewhere because it's public, and there must be access for just such a purpose.

If you filed in Palo Alto, it's easier for them to try to tie you up in court, but it could have been the only/best way.

Thank you again dcatz for your assistance

dcatz: My sincere thanks for your concise and understandable assistance. I will let you know the outcome (it will be several months I am sure) via a post to a thread that you have recently submitted advise.

Thanks again

Just a little heads up of why you will lose this case unless you hire an attorney and sue in a higher court. Dcatz is correct, HP is huge in Oregon. This means any lawsuits filed against them will be turned over to an equally large law firm. Oregon small claims rules only allow attorney representation on an informal basis. This means an attorney may go to court with the defendant and give advice but the attorney cannot represent the defendant. The CEO of HP or whoever is head of their operations in Oregon is not going to appear in small claims court. The first thing the lawfirm representing HP will do is move to have the case moved to a higher court. Based on state court rules, this must happen. Strike one. They will also ask that it be moved to a state court near the company headquarters. They will claim jurisdiction for their product lies at that location. Strike two. They will then throw a whole bunch of legalese at you and you will have no defense, you won't know what they are talking about. Strike three, your out. The same will apply if you decide to sue in California. Before taking on a large multi-state company on your own, you should at least talk to an attorney.

Thank you for input racer72

Racer72: Thank you very much for your suggestions. Just when I thought the "little guy" was afforded a somewhat equal footing to battle "big business" business tactics for a change, you have deflated my bubble. In retrospect, this may account in part for their bold, non-bending position. They have been there, done that. I haven't.

I interpret you statements to mean in this type of situation, there is a 0% chance I (or anyone else for that matter) would actually be able to have a local small claims court hear and rule on a case such as this one.

dcatz, do you have any comments or additional suggestions for me or with regard to Racer72's comments?

Thanks to both of you.

Everyone posting here brings with them somewhat different knowledge, experience and perspective. Everything that Racer72 alludes to is a possibility and one would be remiss not to consider it and respect the insight. Mine is a personal opinion that's also founded on experience. If I thought that your failure was a foregone conclusion, I would see no point in responding to your posts. Reasonable minds can differ.

My further suggestion would be to separate the procedural from the substantive. Racer72's comments are directed at the procedural. That may control, but not necessarily. We don't know the gravamen of your claim or the amount in contention. We don't need to, but both are going to bear on the outcome, and you should recognize that. Finally, bear in mind that your bench officer has taken an oath to be neutral and impartial. That means HP doesn't control simply as a function of size.

Point one: The rules on justification for moving to a higher forum can change by state. In racer72's state, it's discretionary with the court, following a request and a hearing. In your state, it requires a counterclaim exceeding the Small Claims jurisdiction ($5,000) or a counterclaim exceeding $750 and a request for a jury trial. In California, a counterclaim exceeding the limit is the only reason. I don't believe that it *must* happen and I don't expect that it will.

Point two: In your state, once jurisdiction is established, venue preference is where the defendant resides or where the injury occurred. In contract matters, it's where performance is expected. When you concede jurisdiction in Oregon (and I think we did that), I believe you unquestionably are solid on venue.

Point three: Prepare, prepare, prepare. And then put some confidence in your judge. Racer72 is not wrong. It could happen. You asked for a contrary opinion, and I have one. Small Claims Court is not only intended to be faster and more informal, it's intended to level the playing field between David and Goliath. Bench officers know that. In general, I think they do a good job. I've never seen a well-prepared litigant get buried by legalese.

I think two things can bring you down, and they'll do it more surely than Racer72's three and they'll do it in Oregon or California: you don't have a good case or you don't prepare and present it well. Same thing for anyone in any court.

If they're "bold and unbending", you might ask if it's hubris or they truly don't think you have a good case. If you think that you do, prepare it and know it. You won't have more than 10 minutes to convince someone who has never heard it before.

Good luck.

dcatz: Thanks very much again for your expertise

dcatz: Thank you again so much for your assistance and the considerable time you have expended in your replies. I intentionally avoided expanding on the many points and supporting details of my accusations for fear of getting someone sidetracked and off my jurisdiction question. I have in excess of thirty correspondences in addition to sales literature from HP supporting each and every point in my claim.

As for your last paragraph. Yesterday evening before posting I removed the word arrogant and reduced the phrase to “bold and unbending” (that‘s the charm school in me). I was told on one occasion by an HP staff member they would not put some things in writing regarding a resolution as it could come back to bite them in the future regarding precedence. This came after their finally acknowledging the claims I had made were indeed valid.

Just a brief example of one claim point follows. Requested and received presales print samples (13x19”). After purchase of Designjet 130 printer was unable to produce prints of comparable quality. After inquiring within HP for many weeks was finally informed in writing: “The samples that you received from HP were printed using the RIP software that you can purchase from HP. RIP’s have more color management options and the color can be tweaked as needed.” Hence, what you see is not necessarily what you get. Cost of RIP software: $400 to $700.


Again, thank you very much for all your time and assistance.

Your concluding comments prompt one last observation and one suggestion of my own (emphatically personal opinions).

In addition to being referred to as The People’s Court, Small Claims has also been described as a “court of no precedent”. Pleadings are simplified, evidence isn’t retained, appeals procedures are limited and there are no court reporters. HP need not worry; neither of you is establishing Black Letter Law for the Ages.

Mediation has become popular in Small Claims, as a precursor to a hearing. Your state has adopted that view. If mediation is offered, take it. It doesn’t diminish the worth of your claim; it’s just pragmatic. It won’t prevent your going to trial, if you can’t reach an agreement and, if you can, it may be something the Court could never do. (They could offer you the RIP software and a lifetime supply of cartridges and tell you to go home. You wouldn’t care and the Court couldn’t award that.) A Court can only render a decision that leaves one side a winner and one side a loser. Many (maybe even most) litigants in Small Claims win or lose for the “wrong” reason. And Courts like mediated dispositions. They allow judges to avoid deciding between two litigants, each one of whom is a little wrong and a little right.

Again, good luck.

Here is the info on registered agent for service of process on HP: http://egov.sos.state.or.us/br/pkg_web_name_srch_inq.show_detl?p_be_rsn=797861&p_srce=BR_INQ&p_print=FALSE

CT Corporation Systems is the registered agent for most big corporations and they always accept certified mail (if that is an acceptable form of service in your courthouse)