§3.03 Splitting Cause of Action Prohibited

A plaintiff cannot split a single cause of action and make it the basis of several suits in order to take advantage of small claims court jurisdiction and procedure. If a plaintiff splits a cause of action in this manner, the small claims court judgment bars a subsequent proceeding on the same cause of action. [Allstate Ins. Co. v Mel Rapton, Inc. (2000) 77 CA4th 901, 913–914; see §6.13.]

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