In Small Claims Court, you will receive a Notice of Settlement Conference. A settlement conference Settlement Conference is an opportunity for you and the claimant to meet with a judge to see if you can agree to resolve the claim. The judge at a settlement conference is only there to help the parties agree on a settlement. He or she cannot impose an agreement on parties who are not able to reach agreement.

If the settlement conference doesn't resolve the case, you will be given a Notice of Trial. At trialTrial, the claimant will present his or her case, and you will be given a chance to question the claimant and their witnesses and to present your own case. The trial judge will then decide who wins.

| tips = Small Claims Court now offers ''mediationMediation'' of many kinds of cases. If yours is one of these cases, a trained independent person will meet with you and the other parties in your case to see if you can agree on a way of resolving it. Ask someone at the court registry where you file your documents if there could be mediation in your case.