Disputes will still be heard alongside traffic contests
Betrayed, cheated, lied to — for years the wronged sought justice in a tiny Santa Monica courtroom.
From David-and-Goliath kind of lawsuits to matters of principle so divisive they pit old friends against one another, the most impassioned battles have been fought in this cramped, out-of-the-way room that sits across the hall from juvenile court.
There has been a lot of compromise reached here, too. Not just the strong-armed judgments of “Judge Judy” and “The People’s Court,” but real negotiations between sincere parties with genuine grievances.
Now it’s gone dark.
Department U in the Santa Monica Courthouse, also known as the Byron Y. Appleton Honorary Courtroom, has served as the people’s small claims court for more than 18 years.
But with a statewide budget shortfall forcing drastic measures, that all has changed. As part of a countywide plan that closed 29 courtrooms Nov. 1, Appleton’s courtroom has fallen silent.
Some of the cases heard here over the years were petty, but others carried far more weight than their $5,000 price tag.
570,A movie director suing studio execs over copyright infringement, a coalition of tenants taking on their laggard landlord for withholding security deposits, a blue-collar couple uncovering a pattern of forgery in the disbarred lawyer they hired to represent them.
Along with the courtroom closures, Los Angeles bade farewell to the dedicated judge pro tem program, which for years allowed volunteer lawyers to be the workhorses in the county’s most rambunctious courtrooms.
Small claims trials in Santa Monica are now bunched together with traffic disputes, with both being heard by Commissioner Donna Groman, who recently transferred from the Clara Shortridge Foltz Justice Center downtown.
While many regret the loss of the pro tem program, Santa Monica Superior Court Presiding Judge Alan B. Haber said the changes were unavoidable.
“The budget has been the engine that has driven this change,” he said. “The court just needs the staff to be used elsewhere.”
By hearing traffic and small claims in one courtroom, the courthouse will free Department U’s clerk for substitute assignments. No other jobs will be lost in the transition. Caseload and day-to-day operations will not be affected, Haber said.
Unrest in the people’s court
This little courtroom has seen a lot of fights.
Businesses have folded, relationships dissolved and, on a few occasions, blows have even been thrown.
Lois Tietz, a retired Santa Monica small claims clerk for 13 years, said the fireworks often came when least expected, as in the case of two Santa Monica small businessmen who came to court over a simple contract dispute.
Both sides were well-mannered and quiet, Tietz said, and appeared to be seeking an amicable resolution to a fairly mundane business misunderstanding.
A mutually agreeable judgment was entered, the parties politely thanked the judge and left the courtroom. So did the bailiff. Tietz and the pro tem, thinking nothing out of the ordinary, started on their daily paperwork.
But a few minutes later, an excited courthouse staffer burst into the courtroom. He said the two men had lost their tempers, locked fists and were fighting their way up and down the hallway.
“The plaintiff probably thought he got a little better deal and he decided to let the defendant know that,” Tietz said. “Then the next day, the defendant was back, wearing a neck brace, filing a claim of his own.”
Other times the tension in Appleton’s courtroom was all consuming, like the case of a local brawl that ended up in small claims, Tietz said.
Cops were called out to a movie theater after two patrons started throwing punches in the middle of a show.
One of the men, a young actor, wound up with a ripped shirt and a black eye.
The other gentleman, unhurt, said he attacked because the actor came on to his wife. But the actor, whose blind date was sitting to his right, said he inadvertently brushed against the man’s wife, sitting on his left, because he was nervous and his legs were twitching.
The actor sued his attacker for $5,000, saying he missed an audition because of the unsightly injury and was humiliated in front of his blind date.
“He lost his job, his shirt and his girlfriend,” Tietz said. “And when the poor kid saw the guy in court, he lost his head, too. He started another fight.”
That’s when the bailiff stepped in. The actor was reimbursed for medical expenses and the cost of his shirt, but not for the missed audition or the humiliation he said he suffered in front of his date, who refused to see him again.
Lawyers put ‘human face’ on proceedings
Before the transfer of Commissioner Groman, a different pro tem heard small claims trials in Santa Monica each day.
Some of the pro tems were unforgiving and efficient. Others were painstakingly particular. But whatever the style — one pro tem earned a reputation for his Aloha shirts and sunglasses — each one brought a unique perspective to the bench.
Ron Papell, a West Los Angeles personal injury attorney who served on the bench for four years, said he’ll miss putting a human face on the legal system.
“Unless you’re a masochist, who wants to go in front of Judge Judy?” he asked, adding that small claims is often the public’s sole point of contact with the courts. “You want to encourage mediation, explain your rulings and be reasonable. Not embarrass people or talk down to them.”
Papell, who once referred to himself as a disgruntled comedian, depends on his sense of humor to keep parties comfortable.
One of his cases involved a man who sub-let a room in his apartment to an attractive young woman. Her rent was late one month, so the man broke into her room while she was showering.
“I asked the guy in court, ‘Did you think you would get the money from her in the shower?’” mused Papell. “Fortunately, we were able to fashion a resolution.”
“It’s a real education.” — said Steinberg, who once led parties in an auto-accident dispute to the courthouse parking lot to inspect damages first-hand
After some back-and-forth arguing, Papell denied the man’s claim and asked the woman to pay a discounted rental fee.
Playing judge kept lawyers on the ball
Lawyers are forbidden in small claims court.
As a result, show-business moguls sit side by side with show-business wannabes, mansion owners next to homeless people and business owners next to service workers — each without benefit of whispering counsel.
The mix can make things weird. And pro tem judges, not necessarily accustomed to the role, had to learn quickly:
• Two blue-haired senior citizens, ready to duke it out over $20, being pulled apart by a bailiff.
• A pro tem accepting testimony via cell phone from a Las Vegas casino.
• A man, armed with a worm-and larvae-infested bag of walnuts, demanding of the court, “Why won’t anyone test my nuts?”
Sticky situations arose frequently and judges had to stay on the ball.
“You don’t have a lot of time. You don’t have research,” said Donald Burris, a Los Angeles civil litigation lawyer who recently spent his 100th day as a judge pro tem. “You have to act quickly.”
Jane DuBovy, a Pacific Palisades attorney and 12-year veteran of the pro tem program, said the experience forced her into an active, decision-making role, which helped her professionally.
748,“It’s too bad that attorneys aren’t going to be offered this opportunity to really get their hands into the raw system,” DuBovy said. “Too often, we’re isolated with all of the meetings, details and schmoozing.”
DuBovy always ruled on cases while the parties were present in court, and never took matters under submission. People came for a ruling and that’s what they should get, she said.
Peter Steinberg, a civil litigation attorney who volunteered as a judge pro tem for 17 years, said he was disappointed to learn pro tems were making way for a commissioner.
“It was a good thing to have many different members of the bar preside over these hearings,” said Steinberg, who once led parties in an auto-accident dispute to the courthouse parking lot to inspect damages first-hand. “It’s a real education.”
“It was a good thing to have many different members of the bar preside over these hearings,”
Appleton: A ‘wise and caring’ mentor
Steinberg was close to Byron Y. Appleton, a local lawyer who for years spearheaded the small claims cause. In 1999, Steinberg and a handful of others presented an ailing 68-year-old Appleton with a plaque commemorating his ongoing commitment to the community.
A month later, Appleton died of leukemia. The plaque was mounted on Department U’s wall and the little courtroom was formally dedicated in his honor.
Appleton, who was at the helm as the small claims limit grew from $1,000 to its current level of $5,000, was widely regarded as the champion of the people’s court.
He authored a small claims manual to supplement the formal one mailed out from Sacramento. He coordinated seminars and ongoing education. He gave awards and held special functions. Appleton even did all the scheduling for the pro tems himself.
“It was a huge, enormous job,” said his retired clerk Tietz, who now volunteers for Kaiser Permanente. “This all came in a time when the courts were really broke, and Byron really gave his all.”
Pro tems remember him fondly, too.
Burris described Appleton as “a lovely human being.” Steinberg called him a “wise and caring person.” And Papell referred to Appleton as a “very, very sweet and dedicated man.”
“He genuinely cared about the community,” Papell added. “He was the kind of person you wanted to put on a pedestal.”
Day-to-day continue unchanged
Though small claims trials are now heard down the hall in Department T under Commissioner Groman, caseload and just about everything else will remain the same, according to Judge Haber.
“Our court is constantly watching the correlation between caseload and staffing,” he explained. “There’s no cost to Santa Monica whatsoever. No additional bench officers are being brought to the district.”
Los Angeles County currently receives state funding for 591 officers, which includes judges, commissioners and judicial referees.
Some have questioned if combining small claims and traffic might be too heavy a caseload for one court. Before the switch, Santa Monica’s small claims court heard up to 20 cases a day, and the traffic court heard as many as 30 arraignments and eight trials on a daily basis.
Though Commissioner Groman hears all 58 items each day — 24 in the morning and 34 in the afternoon — she remains optimistic.
“We’ll just have to run an efficient courtroom,” she said. Groman also served as a pro tem during her 17-year career as a child custody lawyer before taking the bench downtown five years ago. “This truly is the people’s court. People with righteous claims. I think it’s a great opportunity.”
Both Groman and Haber expressed gratitude for the dedication pro tem judges have shown the Santa Monica Courthouse over the years. Pro tems not only volunteer their time, but also pay themselves for the ongoing education required to serve.
“We’re very grateful for their volunteer work,” said Haber, who explained that the court will continue to use pro tems when judges are sick or on leave.
Though many pro tems regret they won’t be a daily part of the small claims proceedings anymore, most are looking ahead.
DuBovy, whose son is autistic, will continue her work with A2Z Educational Advocates, a non-profit organization that helps parents secure education for kids with special needs. Papell, an art collector, will coordinate an effort to decorate the lecture halls and libraries of Southwestern Law, his alma mater, with contemporary works. And Steinberg plans to spend more time throwing a baseball with his son.
Before stepping down from the bench, Steinberg had a message for the commissioner, who is on track to meet some of Santa Monica’s more flamboyant and engaging characters in the months ahead.
“Have a good sense of humor,” he said, laughing. “You’re going to need it.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 18, 2002. Read the original PDF.