In civil actions either party may be represented by an attorney. You can also represent yourself in a civil action. However, if you choose to represent yourself it is your responsibility to attain sufficient knowledge to properly complete the forms and follow your case through to conclusion.

Court Clerks are not attorney’s and are not authorized, by law, to give legal advise. The Court clerks will be happy to take your filings and explain the courts procedures and process.

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Justices of the Peace have jurisdiction only as affirmatively conferred on them by law. Justices of the peace have exclusive original jurisdiction of all civil actions when the amount involved, exclusive of interest, costs and awarded attorney fees when authorized by law, is $5,000 or less. Justices of the Peace have concurrent original jurisdiction with the Superior Court in cases when the amount involved, exclusive of interest, costs and awarded attorney fees when authorized by law, is more than $5,000 and less than $10,000.

Civil actions may be brought in the precinct where the account, contract or other claim was made or entered into, or where the defendant lives.

If you file in the incorrect venue, the opposing party may file a Motion for Change of Venue. If the change of venue is granted by the Judge, the case will be transferred to the proper precinct and the Parties shall pay all fees. The Plaintiff may file a motion objecting to the change of venue within five days after service of the motion for change of venue.

Statute of Limitations

Statute of Limitations (time limits) apply to both civil actions and small claims. Special circumstances may extended or defer the statute of limitations. Consult with an attorney to determine if you believe these circumstances may apply to your case.

Click to view the Arizona laws outlining statutes of limitation.

Individuals: An individual named in a lawsuit may represent him/herself. One spouse cannot represent the other.

Corporation: A corporation authorized to transact business in the State of Arizona is required to maintain a statutory agent upon whom process can be served.

Note: In any case where a party is an "Inc.", "Incorporated", "L.L.C.", "P.C." or "Corporation", call the Arizona Corporation Commission (1-800-345-5819) to get the legal and proper name of the business and the name of the person (i.e. statutory agent) designated for service of the summons.

Unincorporated Businesses: "Every action shall be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest [Rule 17(a) R.C.P.]" When filing on behalf of, or against an unincorporated business, it is necessary that the true name or names of the party doing business under that business name be shown as plaintiff or defendant. This information may be obtained by calling the Secretary of State.

Partnerships: Partnerships may sue, or be sued, in the name that it has assumed or by which it is known.

Pleadings are written statements which set forth a claim for relief or defenses. The pleadings shall contain: 1) a short and plain statement of the jurisdiction (i.e. The defendant resides in (justice court name here) precinct; or The action in questions occurred in the (justice court name here) precinct. 2) A short and plain statement of the claim for relief (i.e. The defendant owes me money because .....). There are other types of pleadings, such as motions. These forms are available at the court offices.

Computation of Time Limits:

The day the act, event or default from which time begins to run, shall not be included.

Less than 11 days, intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays shall not be included.

More than 11 days, intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays shall be included.

Last day of the computation shall be included unless it is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.

Whenever a party has the right or is required to do some act or take some proceeding within a prescribed period after service of a notice or other paper upon the party and the notice or paper is served by mail, 5 calendar days shall be added.

Fees

Click here to see a list of fees associated with filing and responding to a suit.

Service of Summons and Complaint

In addition to any other available methods, service of the summons and complaint shall be by a private process server [Rule 4(c) R.C.P.]. 

You are responsible to employ the process server to perform the service for you.

The fees of a private process server are regulated by statute.  The process server may ask for payment in advance or may bill you for the cost of the service, and you are to make payment directly to the process server for the services performed.  YOUR ACTION WILL BE DISMISSED IF THE SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT HAVE NOT BEEN SERVED WITHIN 120 DAYS OF THE FILING OF YOUR COMPLAINT.

Dismissal

The plaintiff may dismiss the claim at any time prior to the defendant filing an answer or other responsive pleading.  Once the defendant has filed an answer or other responsive pleading, both parties must stipulate, or agree, in writing to a dismissal. The defendant may ask the court for reimbursement of court costs and/or attorney fees incurred defending the action.

Filing An Answer

An answer is the defendant’s response to the plaintiff’s allegations as stated in a complaint.

If you are the defendant, you have twenty (20) calendar days from the date you are served with the complaint to file an answer (in writing). In computing the time by which to file an answer, the date of service is not included. If the last filing day falls on a Saturday, a Sunday, or a legal holiday, the answer may be filed on the next immediate judicial (business) day.

If the complaint is served out-of-state, the party served has thirty (30) calendar days in which to file an answer. If you are served by registered mail or by publication other time limits apply.

Counterclaim

If the defendant files a counterclaim in the action, the plaintiff (counter-defendant) has twenty (20) days from the date of service in which to file a reply (in writing) to the counterclaim [Rule 12(a) R.C.P.].  There is no fee for filing a reply to a counterclaim.

Default Judgments

If a counterclaim has been filed and the plaintiff fails to reply to the counterclaim within the allowed time, then the counterclaimant (defendant) may obtain a default judgment against the counter-defendant (plaintiff).  Defendants seek default judgments on the counterclaim in the same way the plaintiffs may obtain them against the defendant on a complaint.

An Application for Entry of Default must be mailed to the defaulting party and attorney, if known.[Rule 55(a) R.C.P.].

Service After Appearance

After a party has filed an appearance in an action, unless otherwise ordered by the court, all subsequent pleadings, notices and orders may be served upon the attorney of record or the appearing parties by regular mail.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that each party to an action keep the court apprised of his/her current mailing address.

Disclosure

Disclosure is the pretrial process through which each party discloses to the other the evidence and witness testimony that will be presented in trial.

A disclosure statement MUST be filed with the court and a copy sent to all parties within 40 days of the filing of the answer unless otherwise ordered by the court. [Rule 26.1(b)(1), R.C.P.].

Disclosure includes:
   >The factual basis for each claim/defense
   > A description of the damage(s) and copies of any exhibits substantiating the dollar value of the damage
   > The legal theory upon which each claim is based
   > The names, addresses and telephone numbers of all witnesses and a brief summary of their expected testimony
   > A list of documents or evidence which supports your claims

Failure to comply with disclosure may result in a dismissal or entry of default judgment against you.

Motions

A motion is a request made by a party asking the court to issue a ruling or an order.

If the opposing party files a motion of any kind with the court and you have objections to the motion, you should file your objections in writing within ten (10) judicial days of the filing of the motion to which you are objecting.

On request of either party, or by order of the court, the Judge may set the matter at issue for motion for an oral argument before rendering any order.

Pre-trial Conference

A pretrial conference may be held to clarify the issues for trial, and exchange information to allow the parties to meet and possibly reach a settlement.

When you are ready to go to trial you must file a Motion to Set with the court requesting that a trial date be set. In some cases, if neither party files a motion within ten days, the court will set a trial date.   Please check with the staff at the court in which your case is being heard to determine that court's procedure.

Preparing for Trial

If your action comes to trial, you should educate yourself on court procedure and rules on admissible evidence.  As the person who brought the suit, it is the plaintiff's responsibility to prove by the greater weight of evidence that they have a legal right to the amount they are claiming.

Trial continuances must be submitted in writing and filed with the court in a timely manner. No trial continuances shall be granted except upon a finding of good cause.

Failure To Appear

If the plaintiff fails to appear, the complaint may be dismissed with prejudice, which means the case cannot be re-filed at a later time.   The court may award the defendant his/her costs, including attorney fees.

If the defendant fails to appear, the court may enter judgment against him/her.

If both parties fail to appear, the case will be dismissed without prejudice.

Jury Trials

Either party can request a jury trial. Both parties will be required to submit prepared jury instructions to the court before trial. The requesting party will be assessed jury fees and costs if the jury does not find in their favor. If a jury is not requested the Judge will hear the case. If you are representing yourself (acting as your own attorney) you will be held to the same standard as an attorney.

Basic Trial Procedure

The plaintiff will proceed first and may call witnesses and/or introduce exhibits. The defendant may cross-examine any witnesses or object to the admission of any exhibit. After the plaintiff rests, the defendant(s) will present their case and may call witnesses and/or introduce exhibits that may prove or defend their position. The plaintiff may cross-examine any witnesses or object to the admission of any exhibit.

Appeals

If you are not satisfied with the trial decision, you may file an Appeal to the Superior Court.  The appeal must be filed within ten (10) judicial days of the entry of judgment and must be accompanied by:

a transmittal fee of $17.00 and a cost bond in an amount set by the judge. Posting a bond for cost just allows you to proceed with the appeal.  Obtaining and paying for the transcript of the proceedings is the responsibility of the appealing party.  Ask the court clerk for the procedure to contact the transcriber. The other side can try to collect the judgment while you are appealing.

OR

a supersedeas bond in an amount equal to the judgment including costs. A supersedeas bond will stay execution of the judgment (stop the other side from collecting) until the appeal is decided. If you lose the appeal, the supersedeas bond is used to pay the judgment

Collecting Your Judgment

If judgment is not paid in full or if payments are unacceptable, you may resort to one or more methods to collect.  A judgment is valid for five (5) years.

Writ of Execution

This writ commands the constable or sheriff to seize personal property (e.g. vehicles, guns, jewelry, equipment, etc.) of the debtor to be sold at public auction.  Follow these six steps 1) Get a certified copy of your judgment from the court clerk; 2) Get a writ from the court clerk; 3) Give the writ, the certified judgment, and the execution fee to the constable; 4) Stay in contact with the constable to get the best results.  The constable works for you so provide details to the constable; 5) The constable will auction the seized property and send the money to the prevailing party  [see A.R.S. section 33-1121 to 33-1122 for exemptions]; 6) If necessary, the constable may seize additional property on the same writ for sixty (60) days or on another writ during the five year period.  In addition, real property (i.e. land & buildings) may be seized and sold at auction to satisfy a judgment; ask the Clerk of the Superior Court to docket the Justice Court certified judgment and assign a case number.  The clerk there will issue a writ.  Take the writ to the Sheriff.

Writ of Garnishment

This writ commands an employer or financial institution (i.e. garnishee) to withhold funds and pay them to you.  Follow these four steps: 1) Get a writ of garnishment packet from the clerk of the court, and file it with the court clerk who will issue the writ;  2) Serve the writ, it may be served by any process server; 3) Wait for the answer from the garnishee then ask the court clerk to order the garnishee to send the money to you; 4) File a satisfaction of judgment with the court clerk, when paid in full.

Debtor's Examination

If you do not know the location of the debtor's assets (e.g. wages, bank accounts, personal property, or real property), you may require the debtor to reveal his/her assets in court under oath.  Debtor's refusal to reveal assets is punishable as contempt of court.

Judgment Lien

A lien against real property (i.e. land and buildings) may also be filed in any case.  Follow these four steps: 1) Take one certified and one uncertified copy of the judgment to the Clerk of the Superior Court; 2) Ask the clerk there to docket the Justice Court judgment and assign a case number; 3) Take the judgment to the County Recorder's office to record the judgment as a lien against the debtor's real property in that county.  You may repeat this process in other counties; 4) When the judgment is paid in full to you, notify the court, the debtor, and the County Recorder at once!

Motor Vehicle

Debtor's Vehicle registration and driver's license will be suspended in motor vehicle collision cases if you mail the certified judgment, a copy of the police report, and a letter stating that the judgment has been unsatisfied for sixty days.  Mail to:  M.V.D., FR desk, PO Box 21535, Phoenix AZ  85001.

More Information

For more information, see "Collecting Your Court Judgment, 19 Ways to Get Your Money, at a public library or from NOLO Press, 950 Parker Street, Berkeley, CA  94710, telephone (800)992-6656.