Obtaining Small Claims Forms for Rhode Island Superior Court

[ddeveaux]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? RI

I have to file a suit for ~$8K against a RI company. The Rhode Island Superior Court does not have the forms online on their site for this. When I phoned last week they said they haven't gotten there yet and I have to come in. Person said they don't fax or mail the forms. I'm out of state (GA) and a lawyer would obviously be an expensive way to get the dumb forms.

Does anyone know how I can get the proper forms (service, filing, etc.) for this without paying a lawyer?

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? RI

I have to file a suit for ~$8K against a RI company. The Rhode Island Superior Court does not have the forms online on their site for this. When I phoned last week they said they haven't gotten there yet and I have to come in. Person said they don't fax or mail the forms. I'm out of state (GA) and a lawyer would obviously be an expensive way to get the dumb forms.

Does anyone know how I can get the proper forms (service, filing, etc.) for this without paying a lawyer?

Send a friend in to get the forms...

 

[ddeveaux]

Send a friend in to get the forms...

You get what you pay for I suppose.

Great if there are others that might have another suggestion or resource to get these forms.

 

[Zigner]

You get what you pay for I suppose.

Great if there are others that might have another suggestion or resource to get these forms.

Are you kidding? I gave you a perfectly logical and appropriate way to get the forms without paying an attorney. You sarcasm is way out of line. Now you get to pay someone.

 

[quincy]

You get what you pay for I suppose.

Great if there are others that might have another suggestion or resource to get these forms.

If you don't want to pay an attorney to gather up and send the forms to you, you could perhaps pay someone else to do this for you for less than what an attorney would charge. This is assuming you have no friends who can, as Zigner suggested, do this for you for free (which would be the smartest and simplest solution) - but, from your unnecessarily rude response, I will assume you have no friends in RI.

When you contacted the court, were you given any idea when the small claims forms would be available online? If they are expected to be available soon, and you are not under a major time constraint, you could wait until then to download them.

Or, if these are "standard" small claims forms, then you might be able to pick up forms at your area court. Check with the RI court to see if this is a possibility.

 

[tranquility]

This may get kicked for advertising, but:

http://legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/law-products/search?q=rhode+island+forms&r=13001&s=KEYWORDSEARCH&x=0&y=0&FindMethod=Search

http://www.lexisnexis.com/store/catalog/catalog.jsp?id=399

 

[ddeveaux]

If you don't want to pay an attorney to gather up and send the forms to you, you could perhaps pay someone else to do this for you for less than what an attorney would charge. This is assuming you have no friends who can, as Zigner suggested, do this for you for free (which would be the smartest and simplest solution) - but, from your unnecessarily rude response, I will assume you have no friends in RI.

When you contacted the court, were you given any idea when the small claims forms would be available online? If they are expected to be available soon, and you are not under a major time constraint, you could wait until then to download them.

Or, if these are "standard" small claims forms, then you might be able to pick up forms at your area court. Check with the RI court to see if this is a possibility.

I'll check with court to see about the standard option. Thanks for idea.

 

[Zigner]

Or, if these are "standard" small claims forms, then you might be able to pick up forms at your area court. Check with the RI court to see if this is a possibility.

OP is in Georgia...

 

[quincy]

OP is in Georgia...

I know. My suggestion appears to be a long shot at best.

tranquility's links, however, do not seem to provide a better shot (unless my scan of the sites was inadequate).

ddeveaux could discover that trying to make a new friend in Rhode Island is the quickest and easiest way to get the forms he needs.

 

[dcatz]

Before suggesting that the OP evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using an attorney service that is likely to be in the courthouse everyday and also likely to have clients that it could recommend for enforcement, if necessary, I investigated an apparent disconnect between my recollection of RI SC and the OP’s stated objectives.

Has the OP confirmed that the RI SC jurisdictional limits were increased from $2,500 in 2014 and that corporate litigants are precluded from representation by counsel? I didn’t find a change in either.

A defendant with counsel has nothing additional at risk, by making a GA plaintiff travel to RI to prove his case and travel costs are not recoverable. If the OP will later need counsel to advance his case in a higher court, he may as well incur the expense now.

 

[ddeveaux]

Before suggesting that the OP evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using an attorney service that is likely to be in the courthouse everyday and also likely to have clients that it could recommend for enforcement, if necessary, I investigated an apparent disconnect between my recollection of RI SC and the OP’s stated objectives.

Has the OP confirmed that the RI SC jurisdictional limits were increased from $2,500 in 2014 and that corporate litigants are precluded from representation by counsel? I didn’t find a change in either.

A defendant with counsel has nothing additional at risk, by making a GA plaintiff travel to RI to prove his case and travel costs are not recoverable. If the OP will later need counsel to advance his case in a higher court, he may as well incur the expense now.

Thank you for response. As far as jurisdictional limits, I'm not exactly sure what you mean but this is what we had seen on RI SC website so we understood this to be concurrent since we are between $5 and $10K. The counsel vs. self represented argument is certainly valid and always a chicken and egg for this, esp given amount. I think I will still self represent though and am aware of the adage about doing this.

Welcome to the Superior Court homepage.
The court has original jurisdiction in all felony proceedings, in civil cases where the amount in controversy exceeds $10,000, and in equity matters. (The court has concurrent jurisdiction with the District Court in civil matters in which the amount in controversy is between $5,000 and $10,000.)
Appeals from District Court trials result in trials de novo, entirely new trials, in Superior Court. The court also hears agency, zoning board, and Probate Court appeals, among others.
The Superior Court manages specific Business, Gun, Drug, Sexual Predator, and Domestic Violence Calendars, as well as a Court-Annexed Arbitration Program and an annual Settlement/Mediation week.​

 

[Zigner]

Thank you for response. As far as jurisdictional limits, I'm not exactly sure what you mean...

The limit in RI small claims court is $2,500.00


http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/Statutes/TITLE10/10-16/10-16-1.HTM

§ 10-16-1 Actions subject to chapter. – In all ex contractu civil actions and in any action to recover the amount of any tax for money only not in excess of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) exclusive of interest and costs, and in all actions or suits to recover damages resulting from a retail sale of tangible personal property to a member of the general public or from services rendered to a member of the general public in which the plaintiff seeks to recover an amount of money only not in excess of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) exclusive of interest and costs, and in all actions or suits based upon a negotiable instrument involving an amount of money only not in excess of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) exclusive of interest and costs, the procedure shall, at the plaintiff's election, shown by his or her waiver of appeal, be as provided by this chapter.

 

[quincy]

Zigner is correct that Rhode Island's Small Claims limit is $2500.

The $5000 and $10,000 figures are for Civil claims, although I agree with you that the way the information is presented on the District and Superior Court websites is confusing at best (the District Court home page: http://www.courts.ri.gov/Courts/districtcourt/Pages/Civil.aspx)

You can obtain Small Claims forms by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope with your request for forms to the Court. Make sure the envelope is large enough and has enough postage to handle the mailing of the forms. This is assuming you still plan to go the small claims route.

To call the Court to speak with a court clerk: 401-458-5402.

It would be nice if one of Rhode Island's government websites gave some indication as to when the small claims information would be available online.

 

[Zigner]

Zigner is correct that Rhode Island's Small Claims limit is $2500.

To be fair, dcatz pointed it out first.

 

[quincy]

To be fair, dcatz pointed it out first.

True. But at the time dcatz pointed it out, I thought he might be wrong.