Should I hire a lawyer to assist and collect award should I win in a small claim court case?

Based upon your question, there are a few different issues to address here. First, your primary question is whether you should hire an attorney to assist you in pursuing a claim in small claims court. Magistrate Court, or as some people call it, small claims court, is typically less formal that other courts; however, the same rules of evidence apply in Magistrate Court and you would need to be prepared to present your case in a manner that conforms with Georgia's rules of evidence.  The burden would also be on you to prove fault for the accident as well as the amount of damages. You may have other property damage claims that an attorney would know to raise that you might not otherwise raise.  Beyond the repair cost of your vehicle, it might be prudent to seek the costs of having a rental car while your vehicle is being repaired as well as any diminished value to your vehicle due to the wreck.  The diminished value, in the simplest terms, is how much less your vehicle is worth now that it has been in a wreck than what it would be worth if it had not been in a wreck. Also, the person you are suing will, in all likelihood, have an attorney.  Her insurance company should provide an attorney to represent her, if she reports the lawsuit to them. In short, it will be more of an uphill battle than you might expect to present this case in Magistrate Court without an attorney, since the other side will have an attorney and you may not know how to present some of your evidence procedurally.  Ultimately, the amount of damages you have may make it cost prohibitive to retain an attorney but it is probably worth looking in to. Next, you mention getting your insurance company to fix the car.  If you have full coverage insurance, this may be the more practical way to go.  If your insurance company pays for the repairs to your vehicle then they can worry about collecting the costs of the repairs from the other insurance company. Finally and fortunately, it sounds as though there were no injuries arising from this wreck.  Based upon that, I am not addressing any issues relating to a bodily injury claim.  If you'd like some information on how to send a bad faith property demand letter to the insurance company for the person who hit your son, take a look at this post where I addressed how to raise a property damage bad faith claim: http://www.lawyers.com/ask-a-lawyer/518409.html I wish you the best in resolving this issue and I hope that you are able to get this insurance company to resolve the claim fairly. Paul GhanouniAttorney at LawLaw Office of Paul Ghanouni, P.C.221 E. Main StreetCanton, GA 30114Phone: 770-720-6336Fax: 770-720-6339www.PGLawOffice.com