civil service.
Civil Harassment
A civil harassment restraining order protects individuals suffering from the stalking, violence, threats of violence, etc... from another individual that is not related to you or someone that you date, or have dated in the past.
The civil harassment laws say “harassment” is:
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Unlawful violence, like assault or battery or stalking, or
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A credible (real) threat of violence, and
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The violence or threats seriously scare, annoy, or harass someone and there is no valid reason for it.
IF YOU FEEL THAT YOUR SAFETY IS IN DANGER- CALL THE POLICE AND REQUEST AN IMMEDIATE PROTECTIVE ORDER. An immediate protective order to provide protection from the aggressor during the time that you seek a formal restraining order.
For further immediate assistance, contact: National Domestic Violence Hotline
Pleadings / Motions
Much of the documents filed with the court are called "judicial forms". However, there are a number of requests that have not been generated at a judicial form. In these incidences, a declaration or request must be produced in a pleading form. A pleading form is a type of format that the court requires when filing a non-judicial form declaration or request.
One of the more common requests of the court, that are not in judicial form, are motions.
Here is a snippet from the American Bar Association on motions:
"Motions are not pleadings but are requests for the judge to make a legal ruling. Some of the most common pre-trial motions include:
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Motion to Discover. A motion by which one party seeks to gain information from the adverse party.
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Motion to Dismiss. This motion asks the court to dismiss the suit because the suit doesn’t have a legally sound basis, even if all the facts alleged are proven true.
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Motion for Summary Judgment (sometimes called motion for summary disposition). This motion asks the court for a judgment on the merits of the case before the trial. It is properly made where there is no dispute about the facts and only a question of law needs to be decided."
Name Changes
Changing your name or the name of your child can be an easy process, if you get the right assistance. A petition to the Superior court and obtaining a hearing date is the first step. It is followed by publishing the name change in a local newspaper. Upon publication and attending the hearing date, you may be granted the name change.
You may want to also notify the Social Security office, DMV, IRS etc... of the name change, as it may affect your dealings with those agencies.
Here are some of the more common reasons why our clients have their name changed:
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Dislike Current Name.
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Changing Name Following Divorce.
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Husband Taking Wife's Name Upon Marriage.
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Changing Child's Surname to Mother's or Father's.
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Couples Combining or Hyphenating Surnames to Form a New One.
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Desire for a Less or More "Ethnic" Name.
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Transgender Name Changes.
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Religious Reasons.
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Small Claims
Small Claims cases are brought without the representation of an attorney. Although it is sometimes the case that an attorney prepares the documents for a small claims case, it is never the case that an attorney represents either of the parties of a small claims case. These types of cases are designed for the smaller, streamlined version of a full blown civil matter that may include several hearing dates or even a trial. For a small claims case, there is only one (1) hearing date. At that hearing date, the judge will make a ruling as to who the court deems the "winner" of the case.
(Here is a little snippet from the State of California on Small Claims cases):
In general, a natural person (an individual) cannot ask for more than $10,000 in a claim. Businesses and other entities (like government entities) cannot ask for more than $5,000. This limit on businesses does not apply to sole proprietors, who are treated as natural persons. You can file as many claims as you want for up to $2,500 each. But you can only file 2 claims in a calendar year that ask for more than $2,500.
There are some exceptions to the $10,000 limit for individuals:
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As a natural person, you can only sue a guarantor for up to $6,500 ($2,500 if they do not charge for the guarantee). A "guarantor" is a person or company that promises to be responsible for what another person owes. (If you are an entity other than a natural person and the guarantor charges for its services, you may file a claim for up to $4,000.)
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But, you can sue the Registrar of the Contractors (the executive officer of the Contractors State License Board) as a guarantor for up to $10,000.
Collections agencies cannot sue in small claims court to collect on debts that are assigned to them
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