Small Claims Clinic: August 6th

Time: 6PM-8:30PM

Location: Working Washington/Fair Work Center Office

2100 24th AVE Suite 270

Seattle, WA

UPDATED: Registration Deadline: July 31st

>>Click Here for Registration<<

Who should join: Workers who are owed less than $10k by their employer and would like to explore options to recover their lost wages. 

REGISTRATION REQUIRED

WHY A SMALL CLAIMS CLINIC

We believe that workers can make the change they wish to see in the world when they are provided the tools and resources to do so. For some workers, Small Claims Court is their best option for seeking justice and recovering stolen wages from their employers.  For those workers,  support in navigating the system can be an integral part of building worker power. The purpose of our Small Claims Clinic is to empower workers with the knowledge and tools needed to address their wage claims through non-legal and legal strategies. 

WHAT THE CLINIC OFFERS

This pro-se clinic will be offered as a free two-part course. In addition to the two clinic sessions, we will offer limited administrative support, monthly “drop-in” office hours with a legal representative to receive assistance with the specifics of your claim, and template/sample documents.

PART ONE (2.5 hours)

Workers will learn 1) strategies to recover stolen wages outside of court, 2) what is Small Claims Court and 3) how to initiate a case in Small Claims Court and serve the defendant.

PART TWO (2.5 hours)

Workers will learn 1) How to collect evidence and craft one’s story/ claim, 2) what to expect at a pre-trial conference/ mediation, and 3) how to prepare for your trial.

“DROP IN” OFFICE HOURS

We will host “drop in” office hours once a month where workers can have an individual 20-minute meeting with legal staff to answer questions related to your case and provide support in reviewing your story/ claim.  

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT

We will provide a detailed guide with the information that we cover during our clinics and include templates and samples of the documents you will need to prepare for a Small Claims Court case. 

We will also provide limited administrative support through services such as requesting an interpreter from the court and providing you with preparation checklists. 

REQUIREMENTS OF PARTICIPATION

SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER 

This clinic will be offered for free to all participants. We will support groups of workers across industries with the expectation that you will commit to support one another in navigating the process. Even if workers attempt non-legal or legal methods to recover wages at the same time, each person’s timeline will likely be very different. It is dependent on factors such as the responsiveness of one’s employer or which court and judge one is assigned to. Therefore, though you will have different claims and your timelines will be staggered, we believe that you can provide invaluable support to one another by sharing your experiences at each stage of the process, brainstorming your claims/stories with one another, supporting each other in collecting and reviewing evidence, and by practicing presenting your case to one another. Only in doing so will we build the movement necessary to change our workplace!