I second what UCGal says. Going through small claims court is not that hard. Collecting your money, well that’s another matter.
Worth mentioning. When I went to small claims court a number of years ago with a landlord the judge opened the court every day with a speech along these lines: “The reason you are here is you haven’t reached a compromise. My job is to help you find a compromise, even if it’s not what you want.” As he started hearing cases, what became really apparent was the judge was not interested in who was right or who was wrong. He was more interested in forcing the two parties to negotiate. If you said you’d accept lower than you were asking, he’d turn to the defendant and pressure them to make an offer. If they refused he’d threaten to settle in your favor. If they made an offer he’d turn to you and start pressuring you to lower your expectations. If you refused he’d threaten to find in the defendant’s favor. Back and forth until a number was mutually agreed on. There was little to no interest in the merits of the case, who had done what, only what would the defendant pay you to go away, and what would you accept to settle. But of course it was all a bit silly because when we walked out of the court the judge would do nothing to help you collect.
