Small claims courts are included in each state’s court system and are designed for the resolution of disputes involving a limited dollar amount—and for the parties to the dispute to represent themselves (pro se). Small claims courts are often referred to as the People’s Court, and some states such as California prohibit attorneys from representing parties in small claims court.

The limit on the amount of money in dispute (the jurisdictional limit) varies from state to state within a range of $2,500 to $25,000—but is usually between $5,000 and $15,000. The disputes filed in small claims courts are often seeking to recover a debt or involving residential landlord-tenant disputes.

Judges in small claims courts in some states are called Justices of the Peace, and the courts are sometimes referred to as JP courts.

In Florida, small claims courts are part of the state's court system designed to handle disputes involving relatively small monetary amounts, typically where the parties represent themselves. The jurisdictional limit for small claims in Florida is up to $8,000, excluding costs, interest, and attorneys' fees. This is lower than some states but within the common range for small claims courts across the United States. While small claims courts are sometimes colloquially known as 'the People’s Court,' in Florida, attorneys are not prohibited from representing parties in these proceedings, unlike in some other states such as California. The types of cases often seen in Florida's small claims courts include actions to recover debts, property disputes, and landlord-tenant matters. Judges preside over these courts, and while they are not referred to as Justices of the Peace in Florida, they do serve a similar function in adjudicating minor disputes in an expedited and less formal setting.