PMCW Law

The Law Offices of Phillips, McElyea, Carpenter & Welch, P.C . have the best attorneys in the Lake of the Ozarks area and a top notch support team to help you with most legal issues.  We want to feature the outstanding members of our firm via a series of Blogs where we ask some questions and get some insight on why they went into Law, learn about them as individuals, and feature what they do when they are not at work helping others.  We hope you enjoy this series, and we will feature a different team member every other week. Q & A with Attorney Deirdre O'Donnell Q)   Why did you become a Lawyer? A)   I had my first inkling of wanting to become a lawyer when I was working in St. Louis as a social worker. I was serving adults with disabilities who lived in a group home setting, and some of them were getting into trouble with the law. That got me thinking a lot about the importance of strong legal advocacy for people who cou...

Small Claims Court may be an option for claims up to $5000 Small claims proceedings are more informal in nature, and are designed to allow small matters seeking the payment of money to be heard without the assistance of counsel, though you can hire a lawyer to represent you or your company.   You can only sue for money that you are owed, and your claim is limited to $5,000.00.   You are limited to filing 12 small claims cases in a calendar year.   If you are successful with your claim, the Court does not pay you any money.   It is still your responsibility to collect the judgment from the Defendant.      The chance to tell your story and present evidence A small claims proceeding is overseen by an Associate Circuit Judge, who will give the parties a chance to tell their side of the story and present any evidence they have.   Afterwards, the Judge will make a ruling.   A party unhappy with the court’s ruling may request a “tri...