Going to court yourself: tips without a lawyer

Questioner

In the past, it was relatively easy to file a case with the Subdistrict Court yourself. You filled out a form and sent it to the Subdistrict Court. That started the procedure. Nowadays, a bailiff must first serve a writ. Apparently, they don't want to do that because I have already tried it at 3 offices and got almost the same answer, namely too busy or no time. How can/should I proceed to organize a case (claim 2000 euros) myself via the Subdistrict Court without a lawyer, because in many cases, where relatively small amounts are involved, a lawyer is too expensive.

Lawyer

You can just look on Google and print out a summons model and fill it in yourself. I think you will get a long way that way. The bailiff prefers to do it himself so that he can charge you for the costs of drawing up the summons etc. However, you do need a bailiff to officially serve the summons on the other party.