As far as I know, in almost all states in this country if a person files an action in small claims court (maximum jurisdiction for an award is $7,500 or less in California) there is no right to a jury trial and the defendant usually cannot remove the action to a higher jurisdictional court in the state and county where the small claims court action was filed.In most states, if you are the plaintiff, you have to wait at least ten (10) days after a defendant is served with the summons and complaint to begin formal written discovery consisting of, but not limited to written interrogatories, requests for admissions and document production requests.If more than ten (10) days have passed since you were served with the landlord's counter claim in the lawsuit you are involved in with him or her, most likely you can now serve your first set of document requests upon the landlord.Good luck.