ABSTRACT

This chapter analyses litigant and judge discourse in small claims courts in the United States. It focuses on discourse features of conflict in the institutional activity. Matters of small claims disputes focus primarily on three issues: conflicts about deposits, failure to pay rent or damage costs in living situations; quality of or payment for services; and damages to property or person. In essence, talk in small claims courts is full of exchanges in which judges instruct parties how to express and advance their dispute in court-approved ways. Litigants in small claims are asked by the judge to “give their story”, “explain why they are claiming what they are” or to “provide their side of events”. A. Pomerantz initial investigation of extreme case formulations was, in fact, in the context of small claims court, but scholars have found the device common in many other sites including conversation and a range of other institutional encounters.