You don’t need a lawyer in small claims. Can also go with a paralegal or just represent yourself.

But that’s not why the small claims is backlogged anyway. I have actually no idea why it’s backlogged. I’ve been a defendant in a small claims court case since 2021 and nothing has progressed except for an arbitration hearing in 2022.

Edit: 2020s, not early 2000s. Fuck, it hasn’t been twenty years yet.