Do i need to hire a lawyer if a shipping company denies my damage claim? and do i have a case?

Your ability to recover is limited by the contract for carriage that you entered into with the carrier. This may be significantly less than the value of the item shipped. It will not be possible for anyone to provide meaningful guidance on this claim without review of that contract. The contract may be a bill of lading, incorporated terms from a web site, or something else -- you don't provide any guidance. Also, perhaps more importantly, this is a small claim, and it will likely not be cost-effective for you to engage the services of an attorney to prosecute this claim. Generally speaking, when goods are sold, the risk of loss passes to the buyer at the time of shipment. Your inquiry does not indicate who made the contract for carriage and who bore the risk of this loss and why you are entitled to assert this claim. It is possible that you will not be entitled to any recovery because the recovery belongs to the buyer. As the forum's terms indicate, this is a source for general information and not legal advice. You will want to discuss this claim with an attorney if you are going to pursue it other than in small claims court.