Legal Blog of Attorney Greg Curry

This is what I mean by it can be hard to enforce money judgments. Also, wow, that's a lot in hotel charges.  From a NY Daily News article . After a trial in July, 50 Cent was found liable for posting a sex tape between himself and Lastonia Leviston online, in order to embarrass her and another rapper.  Leviston got a $7 million verdict/judgment after the trial. And now has to try to enforce it. 50 filed for bankruptcy, so collecting on the judgment has now become difficult, and Ms. Leviston's lawyers have to fight things out in bankruptcy court.   According to the article, 50's lawyers charged him $123,455.92 for defending the case, including $57,241.76 for hotel-room expenses in rooms that cost $1,000/night(!): In a new court filing obtained by The News, Leviston asks the court to reject the $57,241.76 sought by Brewer for hotel fees because it includes charges for $1,000-per-night luxury rooms during a period stretching back into May. Surely, ...

Long-ish article from The Verge about a local politician in Illinois who spent 4 years and $35,000 in legal fees trying to find out who defamed him online.  In December, 2011, a local newspaper posted an article online about said politician (Bill Hadley) seeking election to the local county board. An anonymous commenter on the article, "Fuboy", (I guess he's suggesting there should be spaces between the "f" and the "u" and the "boy") posted the following: "Hadley is a Sandusky waiting to be exposed," a commenter called Fuboy had written. "Check out the view he has of Empire [elementary school] from his front door." The Verge article goes on: It was a rude but not unusual comment, in line with the ad hominem hostility often found in comments sections. But for Hadley, this comment crossed the line, and he set out to find the person behind it. His quest to unmask Fuboy set off a four-year legal saga that would send sh...

Let's say you represent yourself in a lawsuit. You sue someone in small claims court or District Court, or even Supreme Court. Or you're a small firm, representing a plaintiff, and maybe the technicalities of enforcing judgments are outside of your comfort zone. The facts and the law are on your side; there was a trial or a motion, and you win your case. You are entitled to money from the defendant. Maybe you've gotten so far as a getting piece of paper signed by a judge that says "Judgment". Hooray! So then what? Now you have to actually  get your money from the defendant. That can be difficult if the person or company does not want to pay. That means the judgment will have to be enforced . And if you don't know how to enforce a judgment, your piece of paper that says "Judgment" isn't worth a whole lot, even after all the trouble you went through to win your case. That's where this office comes in. Enforcing judgments can be trick...