What causes of action to bring?

[newtopractice]

I have a client against whom a default judgment was entered in small claims court. The time to file a motion to open judgment has passed. Small claims judgments are not appealable. We have just discovered that the prevailing party submitted a forged document to the magistrate upon which damages were assessed against my client. What causes of action can we file if we cannot directly attack the small claims judgment?

 

[crismld]

You are a lawyer and you dont know the answer to that question?? The client should have answered the the suit before it went in to default. How do you know what was submitted to the court? Why didn't you contact plaintiffs attorney if this is a matter of concern? where did you attend law school?

 

[newtopractice]

The client did not contact me until now; after the small claims action had been finally adjudicated. Both parties were pro se in that action. I saw the small claims file in the court clerk's office and noticed that the document looked forged so I've conducted an investigation and determined that it is, indeed, a forgery.

I am looking to bring a cause of action in superior court which presents several procedural problems since the underlying cause of action was brought and disposed of in small claims court. There are no appeals of small claims decisions and no additional pleadings have been permitted with regard to that matter in the small claims court. I am going to have to proceed without colaterally attacking that underlying judgment because that would be construed as an impermissible appeal.

Vexatious litigation requires the underlying case to have been disposed of in favor of the plaintiff. It appears that I am only able to file in the superior court a prayer for equitable relief. Neither a writ of error or a petition for a new trial are permitted in this case for the reasons aforementioned. The facts support a claim for fraud, bad faith, abuse of process, emotional distress and perhaps defamation. Since this is supposed to be a forum for legal experts to discuss legal issues, I thought the fact that the vexatious litigation claim-- the most obvious claim -- is missing the third element (final disposition in favor of plaintiff) because the underlying judgment was obtained by fraud presented an interesting question for which perhaps someone may have an experienced suggestion. Additionally, I don't want to bring all of the possible claims since some are clearly stronger than others. I am interested in discussing this with the forum participants who may have something to suggest.

I didn't see that you had any suggestions for me; just personal attacks. You should know that personal attacks are poor form and a fast way to lose your credibility. But I suppose you'll learn that when you have more practice experience. Asking questions of more experienced attorneys is not a weakness. I have been in practice for 7 years but handling cases in fields unrelated to this particular matter. I acknowledge your attack only because it has given me an opportunity to more thoroughly present my question to people who may be thoughtful and more insightful with regard to this fact scenario than I am. But, again, you'll discover these things on your own in time.