This is the same fallacy that some people use about planes: "Traveling by plane doesn't result in more fossil fuels burnt because the plane would have flown anyway".
The way these things work is that every once in a while companies evaluate whether there were enough lawyers, and based on this they hire or lay off lawyers.
They don't have so many lawyers on payroll they can respond to a large increase in small claims court appearances though. They'll have to hire more, or send someone less qualified, or send nobody - all cases in which the consumer has "won".
The opportunity cost of spending the lawyer's time on small claims vs something else is not to be underestimated.
Large companies have lawyers on permanent retainer - they're getting paid regardless if they're at a case or not.