Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Judge awarded attorney fees..now what?

You should be able to find a collection attorney willing to take the case on a contingency. He/She will ensure that your award is reduced to a judgment (if it is not already). He/She will then record an abstract, have a writ issued, record a personal property judgment lien, and then proceed to enforce the judgment. If your neighbor is employed, then her wages are subject to attachment. If she has bank accounts, then they are also subject to attachment.

Good luck.

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Re: Judge awarded attorney fees..now what?

Obtain a writ of execution from the court and an abstract of judgment. Record the abstract with your county recorder, especially if the other person owns real property. You can give the issued writ to the Sheriff (with a fee) to levy upon your neighbor's wages and/or bank accounts if you have that information. If not, you can hire a private investigator to obtain that info. A collections attorney could assist you with that.

Re: Judge awarded attorney fees..now what?

There are many things you can do to collect your judgment. Among other things, you can start a wage garnishment, put a lien in the debtor's house and force them to come to court and testify about their assets and how much money they make.

I've published an article on my website about collecting judgments. I cannot post the link here, I cane mail you the link if you contact me office.