Small claims flash mob coming to Manitoba?

Car owner takes fight away from lawyers

Heather Petersis miffed that her Civic doesn't fet its claimed fuel economy, and she isn't satisfied with a proposed settlement. So she's trying a new approach to litigation. Honda said the 2006 Civic, above, would get about 50 miles per gallon, but because of tehcnical problems the car gets closer to 30 mpg. (Mark Elias/Blooomberg News)

By Jerry Hirsch
December 27, 2011

Heather Peters is an angry consumer who knows she has little chance of winning a war with Honda Motor Co. and its army of high-priced lawyers.

The Los Angeles resident is miffed that her 2006 Honda Civic hybrid doesn't get its claimed fuel economy. And she isn't satisfied with a proposed class-action lawsuit settlement that would give trial lawyers $8.5 million while Civic owners would get as little as $100 and rebate coupons for the purchase of a new vehicle.

But Peters believes that she found a venue where she can win justice and where Honda can't spend a single dollar on legal help.

On January 3 she'll take her case to Small Claims Court in Torrance, where California law prohibits Honda from bringing an attorney. She's asking for the maximum of $10,000 to compensate her for spending much more on gasoline than expected. Honda said the Civic would get about 50 miles per gallon, but because of technical problems the car gets closer to 30 mpg.

What's more, Peters is urging Honda owners across the country to do the same. Peters' DontSettleWithHonda.org website and a DontSettleWithHonda Twitter account include a link to state-by-state instructions for filing these lawsuits, which have low fees and minimal paperwork. Honda sold about 200,000 of the hybrids over a six-year period, and because of resales, as many as 500,000 people are eligible to file claims against Honda.

"I want them to know they can file in Small Claims Court and that it is not so scary," Peters said.

If she's successful in getting others to follow her example, Peters could inspire a whole new litigation strategy in the auto industry and other businesses. Working together but filing lawsuits independently, consumers could force companies to go mano a mano with individual plaintiffs in far-flung courtrooms nationwide.

Call it a small-claims flash mob.

"This could create a lot of problems in the industry," said Aaron Jacoby, the Los Angeles defense attorney who heads the automotive industry group at the Arent Fox law firm.

Attorneys said social networking and the Internet make it easier for groups of claimants to find one another and map out tactics such as the one Peters has devised.

Apartment dwellers for years have used a similar strategy, banding together to file individual cases against the same landlord in Small Claims Court.

"You might have 10 plaintiffs suing the same defendant, but with different claims, and requesting that all the cases be heard at the same time," said Nicholas Aquino, Small Claims Court Advisory Program Manager for the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs.

He said mass filings could become a trend.

"Governments are cutting back on everything, including consumer protection. The Small Claims Court is the forum of last resort for the everyday person," Aquino said. "It gives a consumer an opportunity to have an issue addressed in court."

To be sure, there are hurdles that might dissuade people from pursuing the stratagem en masse.

Although there is relatively little red tape, Small Claims Court still requires plaintiffs to prepare arguments. And they have to make a court date and possibly miss work to attend the hearing, Jacoby said.

Some states allow the litigants in small claims actions to be represented by attorneys — giving big companies with high-priced legal staffs an advantage over mom-and-pop plaintiffs.

"It could be a daunting task for some," Jacoby said.

But in California and other states where companies can only be represented by non-attorney employees, there also could be some benefits, beginning with "cutting the attorneys out of the equation in these cases," said Richard Cupp Jr., who teaches product liability law at Pepperdine