How to Find an Independent Witness for Small Claims Court

Small claims courts generally hear cases involving money disputes under a certain dollar amount. Common examples of small-claims court cases include landlord-tenant disputes, car-accident injury lawsuits and collection cases. Your chances of winning a small-claims court case are increased if you are able to obtain the testimony of an independent witness. An independent witness is someone who has no interest in the outcome of the case and has no pre-existing relationship with either party to the case.

• 1

  Gather any documents related to your case. Not all small claims cases will have documentary evidence. Examples of documentary evidence include a lease, a police report or a credit application.

• 2

  Look for potential independent witnesses on the documents. A police report or accident report will often have a section dedicated to witness information. Other legal documents often require a witness to sign the document attesting to the fact that she witnessed your signature.

• 3

  Make a list of anyone who was listed as a witness on the documents. Also include on the list any contact information found on the documents, such as an address or telephone number.

• 4

  Contact the potential witness by writing a letter or by making a telephone call. If the contact information is incomplete, you can attempt to find the correct information by performing a search on the Internet.

• 5

  Perform a search of the area where the accident happened in the case of a car accident or similar small-claims lawsuit. In cases where the basis of the lawsuit was something that occurred in a public place, you can often spend some time canvassing the area and asking employees at nearby businesses or homeowners if they witnessed anything relevant to your case.