A SPECIAL REPORT: O.C. LAW

CLAIM JUMPERS: Small-claims cases come in bunches, but this year they’re up almost 18% in Orange County, to the dismay of judges. In North Orange Municipal Court in Fullerton, the judges a few months ago turned over most small-claims work to a commissioner. . . . “I don’t know any judge who likes small claims,” says Judge Margaret R. Anderson. “Tensions are always high; by the time two people reach a small-claims courtroom, they’re ready to kill each other. Nobody wants to listen to reason.”