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Timely arrival (a late party's case may be heard without them); photocopies of all evidence for each party and the judge, copies submitted the day of trial not returned; all witnesses brought; documents exchanged and reviewed before the case is heard; a stipulation to a pro-tem (temporary) judge, or a continuance to a date when a judge of the Superior Court is available - a temporary judge may be declined when the claim is filed; the plaintiff's testimony first, then the defendant's; the proceedings not recorded by a court reporter or any other recording; no interpreters provided - a party not fluent in English brings an interpreter; the decision (judgment) mailed; no appeal for the plaintiff on the Plaintiff's Claim, an appeal by the defendant heard again in full, and a plaintiff's appeal on a Claim of Defendant.
California > Third Appellate District > Calaveras County > Superior Court of California, County of Calaveras
Information Come to court organized and prepared. Arrive timely. If you arrive late, your case may be heard without you. Bring enough photocopies of all your evidence for each party and the judge. Any copies submitted to the judge the day of trial may not be returned to you. Bring all your witnesses. Parties may be asked to exchange and review any documents that will be submitted to the judge as evidence. This must be done prior to the case being heard. Have all your documents ready and in chronological order when your case is called. There will be several other cases scheduled the same time as yours so you may have to wait to have your case heard. You may be asked to sign a stipulation allowing a pro-tem judge (temporary judge) to hear your case. If you do not wish to have a temporary judge hear your case, your case may be continued to a date when there is a judge of the Superior Court available to hear your case. You may decline a temporary judge when you file your claim and avoid a continuance. When your case is called, you will be asked to present your evidence and give your testimony. Always address the judge and not the other party. Usually, the plaintiff will give testimony first and then the defendant. The judge will probably ask questions to further his/her understanding of the case. If you are the plaintiff and the only party to appear at the trial, you still must prove your case. Do not expect to automatically win your case if the other party does not appear. The proceedings will not be recorded by a court reporter or by any other type of recording. If you are not fluent in the English language, you must bring an interpreter with you. Small Claims courts do not provide interpreters. The judge will usually not tell you the decision in court. The decision (judgment) will be mailed. If you choose Small Claims court to resolve a dispute and you are the plaintiff, you give up the right to have another court review the Small Claims judge's decision. In other words, the plaintiff has no right of appeal on the Plaintiff's Claim. The person or entity you sue (defendant) may appeal the judge's ruling. When such an appeal is filed, the entire case will be heard again. However, if you are the plaintiff and a Claim of Defendant is filed (in which the defendant sues you on the same case) and you have a judgment against you, you may file an appeal on that decision.
Information Come to court organized and prepared. Arrive timely. If you arrive late, your case may be heard without you. Bring enough photocopies of all your evidence for each party and the judge. Any copies submitted to the judge the day of trial may not be returned to you. Bring all your witnesses. Parties may be asked to exchange and review any documents that will be submitted to the judge as e
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-10-12 (California T4 Calaveras build 2026-10-12) from BenchPath custody ca/t4/ca-calaveras/pages/divisions__small-claims-division__what-expect-small-claims-court.html (the page as fetched 2026-10-12; 635841 bytes, sha256 1399c198ba587e16f2de5d390e030f1979ece6adbfd814ceea3a06569b891def) with the Orange HTML composer (compose-site.py, the Judicial Council theme's area): the article's content sections (section.jcc-section), news bodies (div.jcc-news-full) and title banners (div.jcc-hero; the first banner's heading, the page title, is chrome) - the site header, menus, breadcrumb and footer lie outside them; each block starts a line and each table cell is set on its own line; chrome removed: 1 item (the page title); proof (the multiset of non-space characters equals the containers' text less chrome and scripts) passes. Review note: The page says “Small Claims courts do not provide interpreters”, while Rule 2.6(a), carded in Chapter 2, applies the interpreter request on form INT-300 to “all proceedings, including small claims” (the review task on the Chapter 2 card).
6 verbatim requirements on divisional requirements in GIUSEPPINA MIRANDA's division.
4 verbatim requirements on divisional requirements in HILARY CREARY's division.
2 verbatim requirements on divisional requirements in NATASHA DEPRIMO's division.