how to find the right lawyer to sue the contractor, Help please!

I am looking for a lawyer to sue my conrtactor who cheated $9000 from me and didn't finish the work for the house.

The house was set on fire by someone( I doubt the previous tenant did it since I files eviction). Anyway the insurance company sent the claim payment email to the contractor by his request. And my nightmare began. The contractor didn't do much and all he did is to ask for more money.
And he know I stay in China most of the time. he cheated me and took the money and didn't work.

Now I came back to CA and try to sue him. The amoutn I tried to ask is $20k inlcuding the rent loss and other loss. How could I find the right lawyer and which category of lawyer I should look for? It is first time for me to sue someone. I first tried to sue the contractor in small claim court, but he didn't sign the certified mail the court sent to him, so . Now I think it is better to ask him to pay more for his greediness.

所有跟帖： 

• try the BBB first, enter a claim there -hmo- ♂ (206 bytes) () 06/21/2010 postreply 09:26:11

• First of all, small claim will not rule on judgement that high.. -jy101- ♂ (157 bytes) () 06/21/2010 postreply 14:10:00