How to sue Tesla over historical claims

[gearchruncher]

I thought one of the points of small claims court is that there are no attorneys involved. I'm not sure whether that includes a rule of no claims consideration for outside attorney legal fees, but it might(?)

This is state by state. Most states allow lawyers in small claims, many do not, Attorneys are allowed in South Carolina where the OP is from.

In my experience, in small claims, you can sue for court costs (what it cost to file the case with the court) but not attorney fees. Again, state by state, but in most states, most civil actions do not allow recovery of legal fees. This is kind of the point of small claims, to avoid large legal fees.

Interestingly, most states have Lemon laws on the books, and the primary reason for the lemon laws are that they DO allow recovery of legal fees. They need these rules to prevent automakers from burying their customers with legal fees on what otherwise would be a normal breech of warranty case, where the manufacturer would be motivated to spend $$$ defending the first few that show up to send the message that you can never actually recover money from them.

 

[seenhear]

This is state by state. Most states allow lawyers in small claims, many do not, Attorneys are allowed in South Carolina where the OP is from.

In my experience, in small claims, you can sue for court costs (what it cost to file the case with the court) but not attorney fees. Again, state by state, but in most states, most civil actions do not allow recovery of legal fees. This is kind of the point of small claims, to avoid large legal fees.

Interestingly, most states have Lemon laws on the books, and the primary reason for the lemon laws are that they DO allow recovery of legal fees. They need these rules to prevent automakers from burying their customers with legal fees on what otherwise would be a normal breech of warranty case, where the manufacturer would be motivated to spend $$$ defending the first few that show up to send the message that you can never actually recover money from them.

@JHCCAZ -- The OP said that Tesla's settlement offer included covering legal fees, so that's why I suggested including any additional fees incurred to have a lawyer help them review and understand the Tesla offer's terms and conditions, and to draft a counter offer if necessary.

EDIT: My mistake. I went back and re-read the post and it said Tesla offered to cover "court fees" so possibly not attorney fees. But maybe given the state of SC allows attorneys in small claims. Worth trying.