Intervention by the Peterson Plaintiffs in Rubin v. Iran

The Rubin family levied upon the antiquities collection owned by Iran in the hands of the Oriental institute of the University of Chicago.  The Peterson plaintiffs survivors and family members of the marine barracks bombing successfully intervened.  As of February 2011, the seventh circuit is considering jurisdictional challenges.

View the minute order here

District Court Order Authorizing Process Server to Serve Post-Judgment Process

Enforcement of judgments in federal court compels the judgment creditor to take many steps in order to engage the marshal or a process server. Many marshals decline service of a garnishment and instruct the judgment creditor to use a process server. The practice in most districts is that the judgment creditor must obtain an order from the district court authorizing the process server to serve the enforcement.  This is a requirement in several districts of California.

View the order here

Judgment Debtor Won’t Pay? Seek an Assignment of Funds Held in Their Attorney’s Trust Account.

When faced with a judgment debtor who is a defendant in multiple cases, there is a high probability that they have turned over significant funds to their attorneys from which to pay out settlements in the various matters.

Such was the case with Asbestos Corporation Limited (ACL), a Canadian corporation that is frequently sued in the United States for personal injuries related to, you guessed it, asbestos.

Believing that ACL had deposited significant funds with the Pennsylvania law firm of Goldfein & Joseph, the judgment creditors obtained an assignment order which then allowed them to seek a turnover of funds held by the judgment debtor’s attorneys.

View the assignment order here

Civil Disentitlement as a Remedy in the Post Judgment Setting

In the case of Garza v. Asbestos Corporation Limited, the judgment creditors faced the uphill battle of collecting against a judgment debtor located in Canada.

When the judgment debtor (ACL) failed to respond to post-judgment discovery, the judgment creditors moved to have ACL disentitled from responding to any further motions in the case.

The basis of the disentitlement was the simple notion that if a party avails itself  to the courts they must play by the rules. A party who is in contempt cannot participate in further proceedings until they comply with the court’s orders.

View the disentitlement order here

City of San Francisco v. Esmas

In City of San Francisco v. Esmas, the City of San Francisco faced the uphill task of unwinding multiple fraudulent conveyances.

After the city obtained a judgment against the defendants for running an illegal “flophouse”, the defendants transferred the property through a series of transactions which left the chain of title hopelessly tangled.

The following documents provide insight into the multiple steps used by the city to unwind the fraudulent conveyances and sell the property free and clear of the debtors’ interest.

First, the city obtained a Restraining Order. Next a receiver was appointed. The receiver was then able to sell the property. The Sheriff Sale Order, as well as the Order Allowing Access to Property, Second Restraining Order, and Amended Sale Order can be viewed by clicking on the preceding links.

Ultimately the fraudulent conveyees appealed the order. You can view the Appellate Decision here.

This case provides the reader with a narrative commencing from the first restraining order to the appellate decision, which is a rarity in fraudulent conveyances. The seminal aspect of this case is that the trial court vacated six separate post judgment transfers in a post judgment trial. The court found that the debtor had made a series of fraudulent conveyances and vacated all of them .

Assignment Orders in Federal Court as a Method For Collecting Out of State Assets

Assignment orders can be a useful method of collecting assets which are located outside of a court’s immediate jurisdiction. In two recent decisions federal courts held that once the court obtains jurisdiction over a defendant, the court has jurisdiction over property of the defendant located out of state.

In UMG Recordings v. BCD Music Group a judgment creditor sought an assignment of the right to receive payments from third parties, some of whom were located out of state,  to aid in the recovery of a $7.2 million judgment. The court in UMG held that “When a court has personal jurisdiction over an individual defendant, it also has jurisdiction over the defendant’s property.”

View the opinion granting the assignment order here.

In Global Money Management v. Steven B. McDonnald, the judgment debtor opposed a motion for assignment of rights concerning property located out of state.  Citing UMG v. BCD, supra, the court found that “Because the Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendant in this matter, the Court has “the power to affect out-of-state property by means of decree, based on personal jurisdiction over the parties, which determines the parties’ personal rights or equities in that property.” Read the full opinion here.

Assignment Orders

Assignment orders are one method of reaching monies which are owed to the judgment debtor by third parties.

Below are two assignment orders, the first order is a general assignment of all rights to payment owed to the judgment debtor. This order can be sent to third parties along with a “Pay me, not them letter”.  An additional advantage to assignment orders is that they can be sent to third parties without the need of being formally served by a process server or sheriff.  These orders can be sent out by mail, fax, or even email, meaning that there are much less cost prohibitive.  The second order specifically reaches funds held by factors.

General Assignment Order

Further Assignment Order Reaching Funds Held By Factors

The successful use of an assignment order can often lead to  settlement.

Third Party Claims

In Sanfer Sports Cars v. Shisler, the judgment creditor levied on several of the judgment debtor’s automobiles. In an effort to mask the ownership of the automobiles the judgment debtor had previously attempted to transfer title to each of the automobiles his parents, who then filed a third party claim.

This case is instructive for a host of reasons. The judgment creditor sought and received extensive post judgment orders to gain access to the cars, pink slips, keys to the car (mailed from Italy), orders for the fraudulent conveyees to appear for an examination, restraining orders, and an order setting the third party claim. These orders are extremely extensive in their scope and breath and serve as a virtual carousel of post-judgment remedies.

The irony is that the judgment debtor filed a petition under Chapter 13, and the schedules are likewise uploaded.  while the filing of the chapter 13 is unremarkable, and clearly the exercise of the judgment debtor’s constitutional rights, the judgment debtor sought to assert a claim of exemption of the vehicles in Schedule C. This comes as no surprise. As a matter of California law a fraudulent conveyor cannot unwind a fraudulent conveyance as the conveyance between the conveyor and the conveyee is absolute and only subject to attack in favor of a creditor.  Whether or not that exemption stands or fails is for another day.

Tune in.

The following order denied the third party claim of the judgment debtor’s parents and awarded the automobiles to the judgment creditor:

Sanfer Sports Cars v. Shisler Sister State Judgment and 3rd Party Claim – Part I

Sanfer Sports Cars v. Shisler – Third Party Claim Part II

OEX of Brian Shisler

OEX of Dee Shisler

OEX of Isabel Shisler

Sanfer Sports Cars v. Shisler – Third Party Claim Order