I had a good day yesterday. I took my old landlord to court over building issues. Now, I'm a skinny slip of a thing, and I'm very shy in public. But I was prepared. I had just me, representing myself, and two folders in my little hand when the opposition walked in. The landlord, about 6'3 and fat, in a leather jacket. His witnesses; a shady contractor and a pest control worker. And his lawyer, about 60 in a shiny suit and expensive briefcase. Dog knows how much that show up cost.
The lawyer, oozing condescension, handed me their report, basically a bunch of receipts of work supposedly done, and asked if I had anything. I nodded, handed him a folder, and ducked into the courtroom.
After the rigamarole of starting a court session, the judge asked if anyone wanted informal mediation. Guess whose leather clad arm went up? I, however, refused with a mere shake of my head. The hearing commenced.
I made an opening statement by merely reading from my list of issues and what I wanted done, and presented the judge with the other folder. The landlords lawyer rattled about receipts and lease details and culpability for a while, but the wind was already out of his sails.
What I gave the smarmy lawyer and the judge was an indexed and labeled set of photos, work orders, inspection reports from the health department and building code enforcement, emailed conversations, text conversations, and links to video and audio files that she could access easily. I barely said a word, merely answered a few clarifying questions as the judge read through my report.
Ah so! The point emerges. The reason the whole circus of the opposition was pointless, and the reason it didn't matter that I'm relatively unimpressive, is that I had indisputable facts and clear evidence on my side, and they did not.
If you're trying to convince someone of anything, you HAVE to have some proof. If you can't show it, you don't know it, as the new atheists love to point out...
P.S. I won my case... yay 
12
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14 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Congratulations on your victory. Standing up in court isn't an easy thing to do.
Landlord tenant law, at least in Portland Oergon is a mine field of idiotic rules that really only help lawyers. I managed rentals for a few years and one tenant really pulled one on us, being inexperienced.
The law is rife with date rules, notice rules about how landlords can evict tenants. We lost in court because the tenant had a shark of a lawyer and we didn't get one. Our eviction notice didn't have the correct date (I guess you can't evict someone where the last day is a Monday) also if you fail toe evict them, prepare for a long fight.
There are no tests for reasonableness in the rules and some things make no sense, even if a tenant is not paying the rent.
arnies
Level 7
Jan 28, 2018
0
Good Job!! You nailed the way to win, the less you have to say the better your case sounds (IMNSHO). I'm getting ready to sue a former NBA player for contracting me out to do some work then never paid for it. All I have is a signature on a written contract and the finished, reviewed product, and his emailed refusal to pay me because I questioned his faith and integrity.
I expect to win without saying a word.
RobCampbell
Level 7
Jan 26, 2018
0
@Ligeria CONGRATULATIONS! While it may or may not have even entered the judge's mind, there will be those who whisper in the hall behind cupped hand, "Well, you notice both the judge and plaintiff have vaginas!" (Actually written by a former son-in-law about the court case he lost in court!)
While it is correct that many court judges are free of gender, color, and educational prejudices, there is a very far way to go to get to a 99.9% prejudice-free society.
EllenDale
Level 7
Jan 26, 2018
0
Good to hear this.Sometimes the law is not an ass.
VinceRichardson
Level 6
Jan 26, 2018
1
Congratulations on your good day and may more be in the horizon. "Is not the size of the dog in the fight... is the size of the fight in the dog". credit: movie "Flow". And Welcome to our little world, be yourself among equals.
GipsyOfNewSpain
Level 9
Jan 26, 2018
2
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