Torque and Chrome

How do I sue someone out of state without hiring a lawyer?

My boyfriend ordered a custom sissy bar for his motorcycle about 7 months ago. He found the guy online, sent him picture of his bike, and the guy sent him some sketches. My bf picked a design and the guy fabricated a custom sissy bar, had it chromed and sent it to us. The chrome job was bad and since my bf's bike is a show bike the chrome is very important. He contact the man to let him know the chrome job was bad. He instructed him to return the bar, he would have it re-chromed and returned to him. Months later, with no word from the guy my bf got an email from him stating that he got the bar and had it sent to be re-chromed and would pick it up in a week. This was in November. He is no longer returning phone calls, emails, and even his website is no longer up. My bf is out $500 for the bar, $200 for the chrome, at about $200 for his brackets he had sent for the bar to be welded to. He wants to sue the guy but he is in New Jersey and we are in Wisconsin. He spoke with a lawyer who said it wouldn't be worth it to hire him to represent him in court because of the small amount of the claim. Is there any way to sue him short of hiring an attorney or going to New Jersey himself? Can a non legal (say a power of attorney) represent you in small claims? I also heard that if you purchase something online you can file in your own county since you purchased it at home. Also, could criminal charges of theft apply since the brackets are my bf's property, original to the bike? Can anyone offer some advice?

Public Comments

1. You can do a good job rep. yourself its small claims you cant get no more than what you put in