Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: monetary damages awarded in one country but assets in another

This is really an international law question, and would depend on treaties between Chile and US. In reality, the company in Chile should have sued in US court.

Re: monetary damages awarded in one country but assets in another

I do a great deal of collection work but have never done this. You may be able to "domesticate" the judgement or you may have to re-sue in US.

Joel Selik

800-894-2889

Re: monetary damages awarded in one country but assets in another

there is a special type of lawsuit you need to file to convert the chilean judgement to a CA judgment. It is fairly easy. I have done it a number of times.

Re: monetary damages awarded in one country but assets in another

Foreign judgments will be honored if a treaty requires them to be given effect, or if comity requires. Comity, in this circumstance, suggests that a local court (i.e. California State or Federal) should honor the judgment of a foreign court if the foreign court had jurisdiction and exercised fair procedure. In your hypothetical, this situation might be covered by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and/or another regional treaty involving the United States and Chile. For example, if the dispute were between a California and Mexican company, enforcement of a Mexican judgment in a U.S. Court is likely governed by either GATT (mentioned above) or NAFTA (The North American Free Trade Agreement). However, this is a question that should researched and examined by an attorney, given the facts and circumstances of your situation.

Re: monetary damages awarded in one country but assets in another

There is a fairly concise section of California law covering your situation; it's called the Uniform Foreign Money-Judgments Act, and is found at sections 1713 through 1713.8 of the Code of Civil Procedure. You can access it on line or read it (including annotations) at a law library or most general libraries. This may save you time and money in selecting and dealing with attorneys, which you will ultimately need to do.