afrugal1,

Since a corporation is a fictional person, one would think that the only way it could "appear" would be through an attorney.

Maybe you mean one can't collect attorney fees in court (absent a private contract to the contrary), and that the technical rules of evidence do not apply, but I doubt a defendant is prohibited from being represented by an attorney, at that party's own expense.

What about a person who is deaf, or does not speak English, or is illiterate? More likely, no attorney would be usually interested in such a low-value case, with no possibility of remuneration from an opposing party. But as an absolute prohibition, I'm dubious. Of course I could be convinced by a citation to the relevant small claims court rule!

I can see how allowing plaintiffs not to be represented by counsel might be fair, since they control the forum, and as a matter of public policy a legislature or court might not want small claims court to be dominated by the collections bar. But even there, I'd want to read the actual rule to be sure.

Certainly not all states exclude attorneys from small claims court, so it's best to consult the rule or ask an attorney practicing in that field (collections) in the particular jurisdiction. While the rest of the bar tends to look down on collections attorneys as lacking in legal skills, some of the ones I know make a very good living.

Turning from small claims court, Eastbay1K, perhaps you could find a hungry class-action attorney, such as the newly-admitted former travel agent who sued American for debit memos issued to agencies for pax who did hidden-city ticketing and other "sins."