Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Reciprocity Between California and Minnesota

Yes. There will be some legalities in Minnesota which you will have to take care of, but once they have been addressed you will be able to enforce the judgment there.

This is a result of the Full Faith and Credit clause of the U.S. Constitution, which requires each state to respect the legal acts -- including judgments -- of each of the other states. Without such a rule, Minnesota might require you to re-litigate the claim you have already litigated here in California.

The rule also requires states to respect judgments which are contrary to their own laws. A Las Vegas casino, for example, can enforce judgments for gambling-related debts in other states, even where gambling is illegal and where such debts are thus unenforceable.

The Full Faith and Credit clause normally doesn't attract much interest among laypersons, but that changed recently when Hawaii began recognizing same-sex marriages. The clause requires other states to respect these marriages, although many people are not pleased with this fact. There is a movement underway to pass a new Constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman in order to limit the role of the clause in this particular respect.

I have digressed a bit here, but I thought you might be interested to see that the somewhat obscure provision of the Constitution that has led to this controversey is the same clause which will protect your interests in Minnesota.

Re: Reciprocity Between California and Minnesota

Probably. Minnesota law would apply to the details, but under the Full Faith and Credit clause of the U.S. Constitution, states generally support the enforcement of sister-state judgments and the process is usually fairly simple.

It's easier if you have a money judgment rather than some kind of equitable decree.

For enforcement of certain decrees requiring specific performance, you would have to obtain jurisdiction of the Minnesota court over the judgment debtor, so the extent to which it does business in Minnesota may be an issue. Unless the debtor has substantial contacts with Minnesota (such as being headquartered there or having significant operation there), the Minnesota court might lack personal jurisdiction.

For California's law on this subject, see Code of Civil Procedure sections 1710.10 - 1710.65. You would need to find Minnesota's equivalent laws.