Case study (Chapter 5)

Asserting Tort Claims in Small Claims Court

In this assignment, we are going to provide a different perspective on Tom Cruise and instead of asking you to serve as his attorney, you are going to act as his neighbor. Oh, and that neighbor is Jamie Foxx. If you don’t know the history between Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, then please understand that the two supposedly do not get along.

 

Fact Pattern

Jamie Foxx owns a piece of property in Norco, California.  It just so happens that the Jamie Foxx property has a large number of trees on it because Jamie Foxx likes trees and the fact that they soak up carbon dioxide from all the cars and industrial production in the area.  Tom Cruise owns the parcel of land directly south of the Fox property.  Tom Cruise also likes trees, but just not those that block his view of the north hills and mountains.  For several months Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise have been working in good faith to find a compromise where Jamie Foxx can keep your trees but where Tom Cruise can also have some form of view.  Unfortunately no agreement is reached so Tom Cruise engages in self help and has one particular tree removed (Jamie Foxx also witnesses him cut down the tree).  Jamie Foxx is traumatized in that the tree removed was his one special tree that he had nurtured since it was a mere sapling and its loss caused him traumatic distress.  Tom Cruise knew this would be traumatic for Jamie Foxx and for this reason specially picked out this one tree.  To make matters worse is that he used your tree as firewood in a bonfire he had the following evening.

In response Jamie Foxx now seeks to file a small claims action against Tom Cruise.  He is determined to make Tom Cruise pay for the lost tree, which for purposes of this assignment we will take as fact was worth $3,000.

Small Claims Court Action

Small claims matters are smaller matters (financially speaking) where (in California) an individual can sue for up to $10,000.  Neither party is allowed to be represented by an attorney in an effort to keep things streamlined and cost effective.  For this reason, you can find all the forms and information you need to file a small claims action at the

court’s website (Links to an external site.)

(hint: chose the self help option and then small claims).  There is also an interesting law in California that provides an illegal removal of a tree results in the trebling the damages that can be recovered (i.e., you can recover three times your actual damages):  

California Civil Code Section 3346 (Links to an external site.)

.

 

Your Assignment

Prepare to submit a small claims court complaint using the Judicial Council form (i.e., the form found on the Riverside Court website – Form SC-100).  For purposes of this assignment, the Foxx property happens to be the same as Norco College and Tom Cruise lives on the same street, but his house number is 2010.  Please also prepare not more than a two page supplement (on Microsoft Word) explaining to the court why you (again, you are Jamie Foxx) are asserting the following claims:

Conversion (first cause of action)

Treble Damages (please refer to Civil Code Section 3346 as to how this applies) (part of the first cause of action)

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (second cause of action)

Hints

Here are some hopefully helpful hints:

There are two causes of action you are asserting (with one allowing for treble damages).

Make sure that each cause of action you are asserting has an associated amount you are asking for and that the total does not exceed $10,000.  It is okay to ask for more than $10,000 but I want you to understand that the Court cannot award more than $10,000.

If you do not ask for damages in the complaint, the court will not award you any damages (at least for this assignment) – you can write an incredibly persuasive argument but if you ask for nothing you get nothing.

Organization matters (!!!)

Be sure to specify the correct court house for this matter.  Again, both Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise are in Norco (hence the use of the Norco College address)