Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Sister State Judgments

First, this answer is based on California law, as I am not licensed to practice in Washington.

Next, it seems that you may be confusing fictitious business name registrations (which are prepared by the business and filed with a public agency, such as the county or state) and business licenses, which are issued by (not "filed with") the public agency. It's entirely possible for tese documents to co-exist and further I see no inherent problem in taking out business licenses in the name of a DBA as well as in the name of the underlying corporation. This may be permissible or even necessary based upon local (Washington) law.

Your real issues here are:

1. Is the Canadian corporation subject to the jurisdiction of the Washington courts based upon the level of activity it is conducting in that state? I would think the answer is 'yes,' since taking out a business license would normally be sufficient contact to establish personal jurisdiction over the applicant.

2. Is the Washington-licensed business the same as the one named in your judgment? It's very difficult to collect a judgment against a parent from a corporate subsidiary, or vice-versa.

3. Does the judgment debtor corporation have assets in Washington that can be attached? If not, you will have great difficulty collecting even if a Washington court enters a sister-state judgment on your California judgment.

4. Assuming your original judgment was obtained in California, will the Washington courts consider it valid -- i.e., did the California court have jurisdiction, was the defendant properly served, etc.

California's procedure for entry of sister-state judgments is set forth at Code of Civil Procedure sections 1710.10 through 1710.65. These are not too lengthy or technical, and it would be worth your while to look them up, as Washington's law is likely to be fairly similar.

You might also consider enforcing your judgment under the foreign money-judgments provisions of Canadian law (assuming it has them). See the California equivalent at Code of Civil Procedure sections 1713-1713.8.

Finally, ask yourself whether possibly collecting the judgment is worth the time, effort and expenditure. Enforcing judgments is tricky, and even specialists have a less-than-perfect success rate. Of course, if it's a matter of principle, go ahead. In that case, I would suggest retaining a Washington attorney to at least assist and advise on evaluating your chances and preparing, serving and filing the documents, both to record the judgment then to carry out enforcement (writ of attachment, levy, execution) in accordance with Washington law.