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Law Students Tackle Big Hurdles to Small Claims

a group of people standing in a large room
The Yale Student Association for Small Claims Assistance launch at Yale’s Dwight Hall

An organization for Yale undergraduates started by Law School students Chad Borgman ’25 and Katherine Salinas ’25 aims to help litigants navigate the challenging small claims system in Connecticut.

The Yale Student Association for Small Claims Assistance (Y-SASCA), started in the summer of 2023, held a formal launch event on Jan. 28 at Dwight Hall at Yale, an independent community service organization.

The launch event brought together members of the state judiciary, legal aid organizations, and other stakeholders to mark the inauguration of a program two years in the making. 

Over that time, the group developed a training curriculum about Connecticut small claims law, built relationships with statewide stakeholders, and consulted with access-to-justice leaders across the country. It also trained its first cohort of more than 50 undergraduate volunteers, who underwent a semester-long course on topics from small-claims procedure to landlord-tenant law.

Chief Judge William H. Bright Jr. of the Connecticut Court of Appeals, who was recently nominated by Gov. Ned Lamont to the Connecticut Supreme Court, gave remarks in support of Y-SASCA. He commended the group’s efforts to build a sustainable organization and its positive relationship with people across the state. He also read supporting remarks by Chief Justice Raheem L. Mullins of the Connecticut Supreme Court. 

To the parties involved, small claims are anything but small.”
—Chad Borgman ’25

In Connecticut, small claims law allows litigants to sue for money damages up to $5,000. The system is designed for parties to represent themselves, but many litigants struggle with the hurdles of learning the procedures. Y-SASCA trains undergraduate students to provide general information about small claims procedure and consumer law, with the goal of closing the access to justice gap, according to Borgman and Salinas.  

“To the parties involved, small claims are anything but small,” Borgman said.

After training and a mock client consultation, the undergraduate volunteers are equipped to provide small claims litigants in Connecticut with the general legal knowledge needed to navigate their cases. Students provide information to litigants about the court system, how to file a case or respond to a suit, and what their rights are. 

“Small claims is one place where people should be able to litigate claims on their own,” Salinas said. “Y-SASCA aims to give people the basic information they need to do that.” 

Law students Sharon Nunn ’25, Mikael Tessema ’26, Teddy Watler ’25, Eamon Coburn ’25, Natasha Reifenberg ’24, Allison Li ’26, and Sophie Park ’26 all helped draft training materials.

Y-SASCA is modeled after a similar organization at Harvard known as the Small Claims Advisory Service. It is led by a board of undergraduate students and operated by a group of undergraduate volunteers; Law School students serve as supervisors. 

Borgman said that there are tens of thousands of small claims cases that proceed through Connecticut courts each year. 

“For many of them — at least the most fortunate — this may be the only time they ever walk into a courthouse,” he said. “It is perhaps the only time they ever submit their dispute to a decision-maker they’ve never met, in a courtroom they’ve never seen. Y-SASCA helps make sure their day in court is a fair one.”