Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: business dissolution and outstanding arbitration judgement

I apologize in advance if I come across as rude, but "I would rather go to jail than pay" is about the worst attitude you can have in this situation. The fact that some people take such disputes personally instead of treating them as business decisions ends up only hurting them more. $3k is not worth the stress and expense of running away from. Whether the attorney was dishonest or not is immaterial, as the arbitrator's findings were based on the evidence presented at a hearing. $3k for attorneys fees is perfectly reasonable, as it only covers 10 hours of work. I am sure that reviewing the contract, preparing for arbitration, and the hearing itself easily amounted to 10 hours of work.

Contact the attorney, try to negotiate this down to $1,500 or $2,000. I am sure he would rather take that than chase you for the outstanding balance and it will be over with.

This would be the most reasonable thing to do at this point.

Thanks,

Arkady Itkin

Re: business dissolution and outstanding arbitration judgement

Attorney Itkin is right.

You went into arbitration with no lawyer, they had a lawyer, what did you expect?

Now the case is over, and you lost.

Because you think you should really have won, you think this entitles you to lie about the outcome on some government form under penalty of perjury. This is a Bad Idea. Pay the money and get on with your life.

Re: business dissolution and outstanding arbitration judgement

YOU took the customer to arbitration. Evidently this was a bad decision. The other guy won. He was smart enough to get a lawyer, and to get an attorney fee clause in the arbitration agreement. Now you have to pay the costs of the arbitration, the other guy's legal bill, and can't recover the amount for which you claimed.

Dissolving your business, whether it be a corporation, LLC or proprietorship, will have NO effect on the arbitration winner's ability to get a judgment and enforce it against the corporation's remaining assets.

Draining your corporation's piggybank into your personal pockets would be illegal. Use its cash to pay the arbitration award. Get a paid-in-full receipt or satisfaction of judgment if the creditor has obtained one against his arbitration award.

Finally, do not report any untrue facts on a certificate filed with a government agency such as the secretary of state, or you may get your jail choice.