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Searching for your court case online is like ^^

Summary: You can check the status of your Oregon lawsuit online at the Oregon Judicial Records and Calendar Dates portal. Below is SoloSuit's guide to Oregon's civil court structure, how to search for your Oregon court case records, and how to respond to a debt lawsuit in Oregon.

Have you received a lawsuit from a creditor and are wondering how to access your case records? Or have you sent an Answer and want to follow up on it? The process is straightforward because The Oregon Public Record Law allows the ‌public to view and make copies of court records.

This article will teach you how to check the status of your case in Oregon and how to access court records online.

Let's jump right in.

Understand Oregon's civil court structure

To find your lawsuit easily, you need to understand how the Oregon civil court system works. The Oregon civil court system is made up of four tiers.

Supreme Court: the highest judicial level, deals with cases that have been appealed from the Court of Appeals.
Court of Appeals: has jurisdiction over civil cases that have been appealed from the Circuit Court.
Circuit Court: handles civil cases that have no monetary limit, small claims cases up to $10,000, and civil cases that have been appealed from the Justice Court.
Justice Court: deals with only small claims cases involving up to $10,000.

The Circuit Court is considered a trial court. Depending on the amount in question, you will find your debt collection case in your county's Circuit Court or Justice Court. Keep in mind, if someone does not agree with the outcome of a case, they may appeal and it will move to a higher court's jurisdiction.

The graphic below further illustrates Oregon's civil court structure:

hawaii court structure

Now, let's discuss more about how you can access case records in Oregon.

How to find your case records in Oregon

There are three ways to access your court case records in Oregon:

Use the free online records search.
Subscribe to OJCIN OnLine.
Visit the courthouse in person.

Below, we explain each of these options in detail.

1. Use the free online records search

To find your lawsuit online for free, go to Oregon Judicial Records and Calendar Dates. This service provides basic case information for the Oregon circuit courts and the Oregon Tax Court. So, if you're involved in a debt lawsuit, this will be a great tool to help you check the status of your case.

In order to find your case online, you must provide some or all of the following information:

Record Number: Also known as the case number, this is the specific record number assigned to your case. This number should be listed on the court documents you received when you were notified of the case. If you have it, the record number is the easiest way to search for your case online.
Name: You can also search for a case by entering the first name, last name, and middle initial of whoever is listed as a party in the case. This is also a great and easy way to find your case online.

After entering this search information and locating your case online, you should be able to open the file and look at the basic case information that this portal provides. This includes scheduled events and hearings, all the documents that have been filed into the case, all the fees that were charged for fillings in the case, and the case status.

2. Subscribe to OJCIN OnLine

For a deeper search and access to complete details across all the courts in Oregon, ‌ register for a subscription with the OJCIN OnLine portal portal. This service gives you access to judgment dockets and official Register of Actions from all Oregon State Courts, including trial, appellate, and tax courts. OJCIN OnLine is usually utilized by attorneys and law firms, and it comes with some substantial fees.

If you are just trying to check the status of your case, it might be best for you to consider a different (and free) option.

3. Visit the courthouse in person

Knowing the court where your creditors filed the lawsuit will simplify finding your case records, especially if you intend to access them in person, via mail, or by fax. Once you know the location, you can visit the courthouse or call the court clerk to check on the status of your case.

You might even want to get a copy or two of the case documents. Be aware that some courts may charge a small fee for court copies. To ensure you've found the correct case, give the court clerk some or all of the following information:

Estimated date the case was filed
Party names
Case number
Hearing dates

Attorney names

To make your court case search easier, we have included links to the available twenty-six Oregon County website pages and contact information, including court addresses and court clerk phone numbers:

How to find your case number

To find your case number, go to the Find a Court portal and locate your County Court. The link will take you to the specific court website. Next, enter your name and the creditor's company name, for example, Brian B. Roberts v. Chase Bank USA. If the information is correct, you will immediately access your court file and your case number. You can also enter the creditor's attorney's name to help with the search. Check for their details or qualifications on the Oregon State Bar Attorney Directory.

Respond to a small claims case in Oregon

Small claims involve solving money disputes of between $750–$10,000. Your debt collection case can be heard locally in the Justice Court or state-level Circuit Court. The involved parties may represent themselves but should have the proper documents.

The Oregon Small Claims Courts require that the plaintiff has attempted to collect the money from the defendant before suing. Your creditor will have to submit documents showing that they tried to collect, but you failed to pay or respond.

When responding to the lawsuit, it is important to remember that all Oregon courts charge an Answer filing fee based on the following range:

$170 for cases with less than $10,000 in question
$283 for cases between $10,000 and $50,000
$594 for cases with more than $50,000 in question

Oregon has moved to e-filing, requiring all Answers to be filed via Odyssey.

Let's take a look at an example.

Example: Brian received several calls and emails from Chase Bank asking him to pay a credit card debt, but he never responded. Later, he was notified of a lawsuit filed by a debt collector that had purchased the debt from Chase Bank. Brian found out the debt collector was suing him for $1,245 in Oregon in a small claims court division. Brian used SoloSuit to respond to the case with a written Answer, and SoloSuit filed the Answer for him electronically. After a few months of waiting, Brian decided to check the status of his case online. He was pleasantly surprised to find out that the debt collector had dismissed the case because they didn't have the proper documentation needed to prove Brian owed the debt.

Respond to your debt lawsuit

Solosuit can help you respond to your lawsuit with an Answer. Our software automatically enables you to draft a compelling and exhaustive legal document acceptable to the courts. Afterward, you can use our other documents to request the creditors settle out of court.

To learn more about how to respond to a debt lawsuit, check out this video:

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to fight debt collectors.

You can use SoloSuit to respond to a debt lawsuit, to send letters to collectors, and even to settle a debt.

SoloSuit's Answer service is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your Answer. Upon completion, we'll have an attorney review your document and we'll file it for you.

Respond with SoloSuit

"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James

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>>Read the FastCompany article: Debt Lawsuits Are Complicated: This Website Makes Them Simpler To Navigate