(Visual: A drawing of a thin purple line stretches horizontally across the bottom of the screen. A drawing of a man with chin-length hair in a purple t-shirt appears from the waist up, on the left. He has his arms folded across his chest, and is looking to the right. To his right, a small brown one-storey building with two windows appears. The word “Store” is printed on a sign on the roof.
Female Narrator: If you have a dispute with a person or a business,
(Visual: The man and the store move together into the center, and dissolve into a spinning yellow disk which flies into the foreground. There is an arrow in the center of both sides of the disk. As the disk comes to rest in the center of the screen, “$10K or less” appears in the center of the disk in place of the arrow. A gleam runs across the disk as it comes to rest.)
Female Narrator: and you’re asking for 10 thousand dollars or less,
$10K or less
(Visual: The yellow disk slides below the purple line, and Roman-style courthouse, white, with many columns and a peaked roof appears. The text appears in purple beneath the courthouse.)
Female Narrator: small claims court can help.
Small claims court
(Visual: A yellow paper grows out of the top of the courthouse, and scrolls down until it hits the thin purple line, and then it bounces up, and back down again, and up and down, continuing to unfurl. The paper is covered with purple lines representing text. A brown rubber stamp flies in to the top right corner, and stamps a purple circle with a while checkmark in the middle on the top right corner of the courthouse.)
Female Narrator: Here’s how to give yourself the best chance of success in a small claims case.
(Visual: The text and images disappear, and the words “Step 1” appear above a thin purple line stretching horizontally. Below the line are the words, “Get organized.”)
Female Narrator: Step One, get organized.
Step 1: Get organized
(Visual: The text disappears, and the purple line drops down to the bottom. Three dog-eared pages slide up from the bottom, in a stack. The front page is the only one that is fully visible, only the edges of the other two are visible behind the first page. The front page has a white circle with a picture of the head and shoulders of the man in the purple t-shirt inside. On the top right, beside the picture of the man, the words “Name:” and “Address:” appear. Beneath these words, lines of orange representing text appear.)
Female Narrator: Get the name and address of the person or business you want to sue.
(Visual: A white sticker with a red border appears and affixes itself to the middle of the front page. The sticker says “Defendant” in red.)
Female Narrator: They’re known as the defendant.
(Visual: The first page of paper slides down and disappears. The sheet behind has a white circle in the top left corner with a purple dollar sign inside. To the right of the circle, the words “Money:” and “Cause:” appear. Under the words orange lines representing text appear.)
Female Narrator: Write down how much money they owe you, or how they caused you to lose money.
(Visual: A white sticker with a red border flies in and affixes itself to the front of the paper. The sticker has the word “Damages” in red in the middle.)
Female Narrator: These are referred to as your damages.
(Visual: The front piece of paper slides down and away, and the final piece of paper is visible. Orange lines representing text run across the page until it is full. A purple paperclip affixes itself to the top left corner, and three purple and white squares representing Polaroids tuck themselves under the paperclip.)
Female Narrator: Next, gather any documents, pictures, or other things that prove your side.
(Visual: A white sticker with a red border files in and affixes itself to the front of the paper. On the sticker is the word “Exhibits” in red.)
Female Narrator: These are your exhibits.
(Visual: The paper slides down and away, and a thin purple line stretches across the bottom of the screen. Three people standing in a row rise up from the purple line. A woman on the left stands with hands in her pockets. She is wearing dark blue shorts and a light blue tank top, and has short hair. A man stands in the middle wearing a light blue dress shirt with a red tie and a dark blue vest, and blue pants. Another man in bright green pants and a brown t-shirt and an orange hat stands on the far right with his arms folded across his chest.)
(Visual: A white sticker with a red border and the word “Witnesses” on it in red flies in and affixes itself in the middle of the screen.)
Female Narrator: Any other people who have information about the dispute become your witnesses.
(Visual: The people and the sticker disappear, and two new people appear on the left. A man stands on the far left. He is wearing black pants and a blue collared shirt, and stands with one hand on his hip. He is facing a woman standing beside him on the right. She is wearing a green skirt and a pink top, and has her hair in a topknot. She is standing with her arms folded across her chest.)
(Visual: The piece of paper with the “Exhibits” sticker affixed to it rises up to the right of the two people. Orange lines representing text run across the page, filling it. A purple paperclip is affixed to the top left corner, and three purple and white squares representing Polaroids are tucked under the paperclip.)
Female Narrator: It also helps to think about the witnesses and exhibits that the defendant might use to prove their side.
(Visual: The text and images slide away to the left, and the thin purple lines stretches horizontally across the screen. The words, “Step 2” appear above the line, and the words, “Draft, file, and serve your complaint” appear below the purple line.)
Female Narrator: Step Two, draft, file, and serve your complaint.
Step 2: Draft, file, and serve your complaint
(Visual: The words disappear, A manila envelope rises up to the left from under the purple line. The flap of the envelope is closed, but opens as the envelope rises up and comes to rest. Affixed to the front of the envelope is a white sticker with the word “Court” on it in red. As the top flap of the envelope opens, a yellow sheet of paper rises up out of the envelope. The title on the paper is the word, “Complaint.” The rest of the paper is covered in purple lines that represent text.)
(Visual: Another manila envelope rises up to the right from under the purple line. The flap of the envelope is closed, but opens as the envelope rises up and comes to rest. Affixed to the front of the envelope is a white sticker with the word, “Defendant.” on it in red. As the top flap of the envelope opens, a yellow sheet of paper rises up out of the envelope. The title on the paper is the word, “Complaint.” The rest of the paper is covered in purple lines that represent text.)
Female Narrator: You need to fill out a complaint form to send to the court and the defendant.
(Visual: The two envelopes slide to the left, and shrink down in size. The text, “Small claims complaint form” appears in purple along the bottom. A white oblong search bar appears in the top right corner, and the website address types itself in purple inside the search bar. A purple arrow like that of a mouse pointer flies in with motion trails from the right. The mouse arrow hovers over the search bar and taps like it is clicking the search bar, and then moves away.)
Female Narrator: Get the small claims complaint form on the Vermont Judiciary website, at vermontjudiciary.org.
Small claims complaint form
vermontjudiciary.org
(Visual: The text and images disappear, and in place of the website address, a long piece of yellow paper unfurls from the search bar. the title, “How Much?” appears at the top of the paper, and a few lines down, the title, “Why?” appears. A purple pen hovers beside the piece of paper, as purple lines representing text appear and cover the paper under the two headings.)
Female Narrator: Write down how much the defendant owes you, and why.
(Visual: The images disappear, and a white computer media player window appears. In the bottom left corner of the player window, a triangle play button sits beside a pause button of two parallel lines. A slider moves slowly along showing the video is playing, and shows how much of the video is left to play. The screen of the player shows the animated text of “Step 2” and “File a complaint with the court,” and scenes from a previous video, with a Roman-style courthouse on the right, and a manila envelope with the word “Complaint” on the front sitting in a white circle to the left of the courthouse. A long piece of paper unfurls out of the circle and the envelope.)
Female Narrator: Watch our video about how to start, and file a court case in Vermont for more information on how to deliver your complaint.
(Visual: On the screen of the media player window, the video continues to play. A stack of money slowly unstacks, and the coins and bills slide and bounce away. Behind the money, a computer window with the heading, “Bank Account” “Available Funds” has a slider filled with green. As the money fades away the green in the slider moves down and is replaced almost entirely by red. A very long yellow paper runs down over the “Bank Account” window. The paper is covered in purple lines representing text. The paper bounces when it hits the thin purple line along the bottom the screen, and keeps scrolling up and bouncing down, getting longer and longer.)
Female Narrator: You will have to pay a fee to the court, or apply to waive the fee.
(Visual: The media player window disappears. A thin purple line stretches across the screen, and the words, “Step 3” appear above the line, and the words, “Wait for an answer from the defendant” appear in purple below the line.)
Female Narrator: Step Three, wait for an answer from the defendant.
Step 3: Wait for an answer from the defendant
(Visual: A calendar appears with tear-off pages, and two rings at the top. Numbers appear in the center of each page in purple, with a dark purple line at the top and light purple line at the bottom. The first page has the number “1” on it, the next page has a “5,” followed quickly by the pages tearing off with “10,” “15,” “20,” “25,” and the pages stop tearing off at “30.”)
Female Narrator: The defendant has 30 days to respond to your lawsuit by mail.
(Visual: The calendar disappears, a brown door in a brown doorframe appears in its place. A hand with a bit of blue sleeve flies in holding a manila envelope with the word “complaint” on it and holds the envelope out in front of the door.)
Female Narrator: If they don’t, you can ask the court to have a sheriff deliver,
(Visual: The text appears in purple below the door.)
Female Narrator: or serve, your lawsuit to them.
Serve
(Visual: A white rectangle appears with a thick purple bar at the bottom. The number “4” appears in purple inside the rectangle, and quickly counts up to “21.” When it reaches 21, the countdown stops, and the word “days” appears beneath the number 21.)
Female Narrator: Once the sheriff serves the defendant, they have 21 days to answer.
21 Days
(Visual: The number box disappears, and a Roman-style courthouse appears, white, with columns and a peaked roof. Text appears in purple under the courthouse.)
Female Narrator: If they still don’t respond, you can ask the court for what’s called a default judgement.
Default judgement
(Visual: A brown rubber stamp flies in from the right, stamps a purple circle with a white checkmark inside on the top right corner of the courthouse. and flies out again.)
Female Narrator: This means you would win without a hearing.
(Visual: The images and text disappear, and a brown manila envelope appears in the center of the screen.)
(Visual: The top flap on the envelope opens, and a yellow sheet of paper slides and up with the title “Answer” in purple at the top. Purple lines representing text cover the page below the title.)
Female Narrator: If the defendant answers in writing and agrees they owe you money,
(Visual: A brown rubber stamp flies in from the right, and stamps a purple circle with a white checkmark inside onto the middle of the envelope. The text appears in purple beneath the envelope.)
Female Narrator: you get a judgement.
Judgement
(Visual: The purple circle with the white checkmark disappears, and a yellow circle with a white star inside appears in its place on the envelope.)
Female Narrator: This also means you would win without a hearing.
(Visual: The envelope and text slide to the left, and a second envelope with the same paper sticking out slides in on the right.)
Female Narrator: If the defendant disagrees,
Go to a hearing
(Visual: A brown rubber stamp flies in on the right, stamps the envelope on the right with a red circle with a white exclamation mark inside, and flies out. The text appears in purple under the second envelope.)
Female Narrator: there will be a hearing.
(Visual: The envelope with a star on it disappears, and the envelope with the red circle with the white exclamation mark in it slides to the center. A magnifying glass flies in from the right, and slowly scans over the “Answer” page sticking up out of the manila envelope.)
(Visual: As the magnifying glass hovers over the page, A dollar sign appears inside the lens of the magnifying glass.)
Female Narrator: The defendant’s answer may also give reasons why they believe you owe them money.
(Visual: The text appears in purple under the manila envelope.)
Female Narrator: These are called “counterclaims.”
Counterclaims
(Visual: The text and images disappear, and a thin purple line stretches horizontally across the screen. Above the line, the words, “Step 4” appear, and below the line, the words “Prepare for the hearing” appear in purple.)
Female Narrator: Step Four, prepare for the hearing.
Step 4: Prepare for the hearing
(Visual: The text disappears, and a piece of paper with a checklist on it appears. The paper is curved over, and has dark lines representing text in a column on the left. To the right of the lines representing text are a column of empty white squares like check boxes.)
(Visual: A purple pen appears to the right of the checklist, and bounces, clicking out the writing tip.)
Female Narrator: Get ready to present your case in court by doing the following:
(Visual: The checklist slides to the left, and on the right, the three individuals who were identified as witnesses earlier appear. Standing to the left of the three is a woman in blue shorts and a blue tank top, a man stands in the middle wearing a light blue dress shirt with a red tie and a dark blue vest, and blue pants. Another man in bright green pants and a brown t-shirt and an orange hat stands on the far right with his arms folded across his chest. Behind them, a piece of paper covered in orange lines representing text rises up, above their heads, a purple paperclip affixes to the paper, and three white and purple squares representing Polaroids attach themselves to the paperclip.)
(Visual: As the narrator speaks, the purple pen checks off the top box on the paper checklist to the left with a red checkmark.)
Female Narrator: Plan out the witnesses and exhibits you will use to prove your case.
(Visual: The three witnesses slide down and away, and the paper with the Polaroids attached splits into three exact copies, and fans out in a triangle.)
(Visual: A white sticker with the word, “Plaintiff” in red flies in and affixes itself to the copy on the far left. A second white sticker with the word “Defendant” in red flies in and affixes itself to the copy on the top of the triangle of papers. A third white sticker with the word, “Judge” in red flies in and affixes itself to the far right copy.)
(Visual: The purple pen hovers over the piece of paper on the left, and checks off the second white box in the column of check boxes with a red checkmark.)
Female Narrator: Make copies of your exhibits for yourself, the defendant, and the judge.
(Visual: The three copies disappear, and a single piece of dog-eared yellow paper appears, and orange lines representing text cover it and fill it completely.)
(Visual: The purple pen hovers over the piece of paper on the left, and checks off the third white box in the column of check boxes with a red checkmark.)
Female Narrator: Write down questions to ask your witnesses,
(Visual: The yellow piece of paper on the right slides down and away, and a large brown mirror appears, in which the plaintiff -a man in a yellow t-shirt- is reflected. He is holding a piece of paper in one hand, and gesturing with the other, as though he is speaking.)
(Visual: The purple pen hovers over the piece of paper on the left, and checks off the last white box in the column of check boxes with a red checkmark.)
Female Narrator: and practice answering questions that the defendant, their lawyer, or the judge might ask you.
(Visual: The images slide up and disappear, and a purple and white cell phone appears. A yellow alarm bell appears in the center of the cell phone’s screen, and moves from side to side as though it is ringing.)
Female Narrator: On the day of your hearing, remember to:
(Visual: The yellow alarm bell disappears, and a purple calendar page appears in its place. The page has white boxes marking off days, and one of the white boxes is highlighted with a red circle. Beneath the calendar page, a purple rectangle with a red circle with an exclamation mark in it sits beside the words, “Court hearing.”)
Female Narrator: Arrive at court early,
(Visual: The cell phone slides to the left, and a white circle with the head and shoulders of the plaintiff- a man in a yellow t-shirt- appears.)
Female Narrator: tell the court officer you are there,
(Visual: A purple arrow extends out to the right and left of the white circle with the plaintiff in it.)
Female Narrator: and ask where to go,
(Visual: The circle with the plaintiff moves over, and a second white circle appears to the right, with the head and shoulders of a woman in a judge’s robe inside.)
Female Narrator: and speak when the judge asks you to.
(Visual: A red circle with a white exclamation point inside appears in the top right corner of the judge’s circle.)
Female Narrator: Don’t interrupt the judge, or the defendant.
(Visual: The image of the cell phone and the plaintiff slide away and disappear, and the circle with the judge slides to the left. To the right, a wooden gavel appears, and strikes a sounding board.)
Female Narrator: After your hearing, the judge will either make a decision right away,
(Visual: A manila envelope appears behind the gavel, with a white sticker on it with the word, “Decision” in red on the sticker.)
Female Narrator: or send you their decision in writing later.
(Visual: The images slide away and disappear, and a thin purple line appears stretching horizontally across the screen. Above the line, the words, “Step 5” appear, and below the line, the words “Appeal or collect” appear in purple.)
Female Narrator: Step Five, appeal or collect.
Step 5: Appeal or collect
(Visual: The text disappears, and a calendar appears with tear-off pages, and two rings at the top. Numbers appear in the center of each page in purple, with a dark purple line at the top and light purple line at the bottom. The first page has the number “1” on it, the next page has a “5,” followed quickly by the pages tearing off with “10,” “15,” “20,” “25,” and the pages stop tearing off at “30.”)
Female Narrator: If you win the case, the defendant has 30 days to pay the amount the court has agreed to.
30
(Visual: The plaintiff, a man in a yellow t-shirt, appears to the left of the calendar. He is standing with his arms folded across his chest. To the right of the calendar, the defendant, a man in a purple t-shirt, stands facing the plaintiff, arms also folded across his chest.)
Female Narrator: Both you and the defendant also have 30 days to appeal the judgement.
(Visual: The calendar disappears, and the two men shrink down in size. A Roman-style courthouse, white, with pillars, and a peaked roof, appears in between them. A manila envelope flies out from the plaintiff and the defendant, and fly into the courthouse and disappear. Both envelopes have a white sticker on the front with the word “Appeal” written in red.)
Female Narrator: Any appeal must be sent in writing to the court clerk,
(Visual: The text appears in purple beneath the courthouse.)
Female Narrator: using a Small Claims Appeal Information Form.
Small claims appeal information form
(Visual: The plaintiff and the courthouse disappear, and the defendant grows in size and moves to the center of the screen.)
Female Narrator: Collecting on a judgement can be complicated.
(Visual: A purple clock appears to the left of the defendant’s head. The hour and minute hands on the clock circle quickly around.)
Female Narrator: If the defendant doesn’t pay within the time limit,
(Visual: The clock disappears, and the defendant moves back into the center.)
(Visual: To the left of the defendant, a small brown one-storey house appears in a white circle with a purple shadow.)
(Visual: To the right of the defendant, a second white circle with a purple shadow appears. Inside the circle, a stack of green bills with dollar signs on them sit behind a stack of coins.)
Female Narrator: You might be entitled to some of their property or wages.
(Visual: The text “Lien” appears in purple under the house.)
Female Narrator: Ask the court for what’s called a lien on the defendant’s property,
Lien
(Visual: The text “Garnish” appears under the white circle with the money in it.)
Female Narrator: or to garnish some of their wages.
Garnish
(Visual: The text and images disappear, and the plaintiff- a man in a yellow t-shirt- appears standing on the left. The Roman-style courthouse appears to the right, and a purple and white cell phone appears between them, with a purple phone receiver with lines indicating ringing on it, moving back and forth slightly as though it is vibrating.)
Female Narrator: Ask the court clerk any questions you have about the process.
(Visual: The images disappear, and a thin purple line stretches horizontally. Above it, the logo for Legal Services Vermont appears, with the words, “Working together for justice” below it. Below the purple line, the phone number and website address appear.)
Female Narrator: Or get quick advice from Legal Services Vermont.
Legal Services Vermont
Working together for justice
1-800-889-2047
vtlawhelp.org
End of transcript.
