Filing an Answer to a Magistrate Court Lawsuit.

Getting Served With a Magistrate Court Lawsuit

You've been served. A Sheriff's deputy, a Marshal, or a private process server left you with a stack of court papers and no explanation or instructions. After you've calmed down and looked over the documents, many questions still remain. There's so much information, and so little of it is helpful. What are you supposed to do now?

The Affidavit of Service

Stapled to the top of everything else is likely to be a thin, pink sheet of carbon paper. This is your copy of the process server's affidavit. It should have the case information at the top, including the court, county, case number, filing date, and the names of the parties to the lawsuit. The business entity or individual being served will be named as the "defendant." If you are not the defendant named on this document, you have not been served. If the defendant named on the affidavit is someone else who lives at your address, give them the paperwork immediately, as they have been served. If you don't recognize the name of the defendant shown on the affidavit of service, and your name does not appear anywhere else in the documents, you are under no obligation to do anything.

The Statement of Claim

Above the Summons, the top of the Statement of Claim includes the captioning, or "style," of the case (court, county, case number, party names and designations). Below the caption, the Statement of Claim includes factual allegations as notice of the claim that has been filed against you. The first piece of information is the type of civil lawsuit that has been filed. The options, with some variation, are "Suit on Note," "Suit on Account," "Contract," and "Other." After indicating the type of claim being filed, there are three enumerated allegations. Number 1 is a jurisdictional allegation explaining why the lawsuit was filed in the court and county shown in the style of the case. Number 2 should include facts explaining why you have been named in the lawsuit. When filed by a lawyer, this allegation often refers to other documents that have been included with the Statement of Claim. Number 3 allows the plaintiff to state the dollar amount you allegedly owe. In a Georgia Magistrate Court, the total of these numbers should never be more than $15,000.00.

The Summons

Underneath the Affidavit of Service, find the Statement of Claim and Summons. When people refer to "process servers," or being served with "process," or "process and summons," this is the document they are referencing. The Georgia Magistrate Courts generally use a standardized form in connection with the filing of civil lawsuits, referred to as a Statement of Claim. The Summons is included together with the Statement of Claim, and is found on the bottom portion of this one page document. The information contained on this document is intended to satisfy your right to "due process" by informing you of the existence and nature of the legal proceedings and providing you with an opportunity to be heard in response. Beware that the Summons contains the least amount of information required by law. It is not an instructional guide. The Summons contains incomplete information as to your rights upon being served. The most important information to be found in the Summons concerns the amount of time you have to file a response to the lawsuit and the consequences of failing to file a timely response. In most cases the time period to file a response is within 30 days after being served. However, in some cases, including dispossessory and personal property foreclosure actions, that time period is shortened to 7 days from the date you were served. The failure to file a timely response is likely to result in a default judgment, meaning the plaintiff will get what they are asking for, and you will not be heard in opposition, with limited exceptions.

Answering the Statement of Claim

Your Answer to the Statement of Claim determines how the case will proceed. If you do not file an Answer, the allegations in the Statement of Claim will be admitted by default after the expiration of 30 days from the date of service, and the admissions cannot be withdrawn after 45 days from the date of service. If you are in default for failing to file a response or if you Answer the Statement of Claim by admitting the allegations in paragraphs 1 through 3, the plaintiff is likely to receive a money judgment for the amount requested in the Statement of Claim. In Magistrate Court, cases are scheduled for trial when there is a dispute between the parties that is shown from the face of their pleadings. The Statement of Claim is the initial "pleading" that is filed by the plaintiff in the lawsuit. The Answer is the responsive "pleading" that is filed by the defendant. Anything that you admit in you in your Answer is no longer in dispute and does not have to be proved by the plaintiff at trial. The only issues that will be heard and decided by the Court at trial are the issues in dispute, which are shown by the allegations that are denied in your Answer.

Filing the Answer with the Magistrate Court Clerk

In 2017, electronic filing of court pleadings became mandatory in all Georgia courts of record. Magistrate Courts are not courts of record, but almost all Magistrate Courts provide access to electronic filing. Some Magistrate Courts now require electronic filing of all documents in civil cases. While electronic filing has made life much easier and more convenient for attorneys and court personnel, it can create confusion and difficulties for unrepresented parties, due to the number of different service providers used by various courts, finding the e-filing service on poorly organized websites, and the lack of clear instructions regarding the use of the e-filing service. For this reason, it is best not to wait until the last day to file an Answer to the lawsuit.

Notice of Trial in Magistrate Court

After the timely filing of an Answer to the Magistrate Court lawsuit, the Clerk will schedule the case for a bench trial on all issues that remain dispute. The notice will be sent to the mailing address and/or the email address you include in your Answer. The notice of the trial should inform you of the trial date, the time at which the trial calendar will be called, the street address of the Magistrate Court, and the courtroom assignment.

Hiring a Lawyer

Filing an Answer and showing up for trial in Magistrate Court is not that difficult. Thousands of people with no prior legal knowledge or training do it every week in counties all across the State of Georgia. However, making it to trial, knowing how to prepare for the trial, knowing what to do when you get to trial, and avoiding all potential pitfalls associated with a trial, are all very different things. If you're concerned about the possibility of losing the case and ending up with a money judgment against you, it can help to speak with an attorney, and sooner rather than later.