WOMAN: Finally, I had my day in court.

This is called a hearing.

On the day of the hearing

you should check the court list and see what courtroom you're in.

The listings should also tell you who will be hearing your case.

It's usually done by an assessor or a magistrate.

A magistrate you call 'Your Honour'

and an assessor, well, you just call them 'Assessor'.

You go in, sit at the back of the court and wait your turn.

Alright, let's move on. Rashad and Hansen.

The court officer might show you where to sit,

which is the table that the lawyers use.

It's a strange feeling at first.

In legal terms, I am called the plaintiff.

because I started the case to get my money back.

Clark is called the defendant.

Ms Rashad and Mr Hansen,

this matter is listed for hearing today.

That means I will look at the evidence in your case

and then make a decision.

-Are you Ms Rashad? -Yes, Assessor.

-And you're Mr Hansen? -Yes, Assessor. Clark Hansen.

Alright, now, case management orders were made in this matter

that you would exchange statements and evidence

with each other two weeks prior to this hearing date.

Have you each received the other's evidence?

-Yes, Assessor. -Yes, Assessor.

OK, I have these here. I'll just take a moment to read these.

WOMAN: Case management orders.

That means the court had told us to get all of our documents together

before the hearing.

The magistrate or assessor

reads through all of the written evidence, both sides'.

But it doesn't end there.

I still had to present my case in person.

That's called making a submission and it's worth preparing for.

OK, you've both complied with the case management orders

and filed and served witness statements and some documents.

I have two statements from you, Ms Rashad,

and one from you, Mr Hansen.

I have already read these.

Now I will give you each the chance to put any submissions to me.

Ms Rashad, when you are ready.

Because I had started the case I got to go first.

On 1 February, 2011,

Mr Clark Hansen called me to say that he needed a loan of $2,000

to register and insure his car.

I loaned the money to Mr Hansen

and in my statement I explain how I gave him the money

and how he told me that he would pay it back.

I had to explain the main things

I wanted the assessor to know about my case.

I had notes written down and I could look at them,

but it's not good practice to just read your statements.

Try to emphasise the strong parts of your case.

The day I loaned Clark the money, my uncle was there.

He heard the conversation with Clark

and he heard him say that he'd pay me back when he started his new job.

In the witness statement that my uncle has supplied

you'll see that Clark agreed to pay the money back before Easter.

Thank you.

After I was finished, it was Clark's turn.

Assessor, I am sorry to be taking up court time

with a matter as trivial as this.

As you'll see in my witness statement,

paragraph two,

I recall feeling overwhelmed and surprised

that my dear friend wrote me a cheque for $2,000...

I was a bit worried

because Clark seemed more confident than I expected.

RHASHADA: He'd thought through both sides of the argument.

He denied he'd ever said he didn't have the money to pay me

and he said nice things about me being generous.

In fact, he had planned a near perfect presentation

except for one little thing.

-And said... -(MOBILE PHONE RINGS)

RHASHADA: He forgot to turn his phone off.

So as I stand here today...

(MOBILE PHONE RINGS)

..never a thought in my mind that I would...

-That somehow... -(PHONE CONTINUES RINGING)

Someday I would have to confront...

-Comfort myself or, uh... -(PHONE CONTINUES RINGING)

I mean, what I'm trying to say is that...

Mr Hansen, I'm having some trouble hearing you over that ringing sound.

I gather that's your phone.

Yes. Sorry, your assess... Yes, it's my phone.

I'll just turn it off here.

It normally goes straight to MessageBank.

I'll just... Yep, there, there.

Anyway, after he'd heard us both

the assessor asked some questions and then he went ahead and decided.

It was really pretty quick.

Right, Ms Rashad, Mr Hansen,

I'm ready to make a decision in this matter.