Free Small Claims Advisors in California: Help in All 58 Counties

What a small claims advisor can do for you

Small claims court is built for people who represent themselves, and the law backs that up with free coaching. Section 116.260 of the Code of Civil Procedure says that in each county, individual help must be available to small claims litigants and potential litigants without charge. That covers you whether you are thinking about filing, you have already filed, or you have just been served.

Section 116.940 sets the minimum. The service must offer individual advice in person or by telephone, and by other means that give timely help, such as email or video. Recorded messages can add to that help but cannot replace it. The topics must include preparing small claims filings, court procedures (including how the hearing runs) and how to collect a judgment once you win.

• Before you file: which form to use, how to name the defendant, which court location is right, and how to serve the papers.
• Before the hearing: what to bring, how to organize your evidence, and what to expect when your case is called.
• After the hearing: how to collect if the other side does not pay, or what your options are if you lost. Our guide to collecting a small claims judgment covers the collection tools in detail.

Advisers may be volunteers. The statute allows members of the State Bar, law students, paralegals, or people experienced in resolving minor disputes, as long as they know small claims rules and procedures. Many counties run the service through the court's self-help center; others contract with a legal aid group, a bar foundation, a law school or a county department.

What an advisor cannot do

An adviser may not appear in court as an advocate for any party (CCP 116.940(e)). You present your own case. The service also has to avoid any conflict of interest with the parties or the judge (CCP 116.940(d)), so an adviser will not take sides in your dispute the way a hired lawyer would.

Lawyers are kept out of the hearing itself as well. Under section 116.530, an attorney generally may not take part in conducting or defending a small claims case. The same section lets an attorney advise you before or after the case starts, represent you on an appeal to the superior court, and help you enforce a judgment.

Why some counties offer less

The law gives small counties a way out. If a county averaged 1,000 or fewer small claims filings a year over the two previous fiscal years, the county or the court may exempt itself from the full advisory requirements (CCP 116.940(c)). It must then still provide recorded phone messages with general small claims information during business hours, and small claims booklets at the clerk's office and other convenient places.

Neighboring counties or their courts may also run one advisory service together (CCP 116.940(b)(3)). That is why a few rural counties point residents to an advisor based in another county, or to the court's general self-help center rather than a dedicated small claims advisor.

Small claims advisor contacts in all 58 counties

We read each county's official superior court or county web page on October 18, 2026, and list the help it describes, as published. Hours, phone lines and appointment rules change, so open the linked page before you call or go in. Where a page gave more than one number, we note it.

If a county page and this list disagree, the county page wins. You can also reach any court's website through the Judicial Council's Find My Court page.

How to get the most from an advisor session

Advisor time is short. One county limits in-person sessions to 30 minutes; another books 10-minute appointments. Arrive with the facts organized and your questions written down.

1. Write the defendant's exact legal name and address. For a business, check the name it is registered under; our guide on finding a business's legal name shows where to look.
2. Put your amount in one line with the math behind it: the invoice, the deposit, the repair estimate, and any interest you are claiming.
3. Bring a copy of your written demand for payment and the date you sent it. Form SC-100 asks whether you asked the defendant to pay before filing; our guide to the demand letter before small claims explains what the court expects.
4. Gather your documents in date order: the contract, receipts, photos, texts and emails.
5. List the questions only the advisor can answer for your county, such as which courthouse to use, whether you can file online, and how service works locally.

If you cannot find your county's advisor

A few county pages we checked do not name an advisor or give a way to reach one. In that case, call the small claims clerk and ask who provides the county's small claims advisory service. Clerks cannot give legal advice, but they can tell you where the service is.

The statewide California Courts self-help guide on small claims advisors and the court's own self-help center are the next stops. For the filing steps themselves, start with our guide on how to file small claims in California, and check the fee for your claim with the small claims filing fee calculator.

The letter you send before you file

An advisor can explain the court's papers, but the step before them is yours: asking the other side, in writing, to pay. A clear demand with your amount, your math and a deadline gives the defendant a last chance to pay and gives the judge a document showing you tried.

With Talk to My Lawyer, a licensed California attorney writes your letter from your facts and documents and sends it on your behalf. If the deadline passes without payment, the advisor in your county can then help you take the next step in small claims court.