Legal Question in Personal Injury in New Mexico

Re: Default judgement without notification of trial

Your best bet would be to hire a NM lawyer to investigate the court file, determine its status and where you stand and advise you. It sounds as though a Judgment has been entered against you and, if so, you will need to deal with it in order to get your driving privileges reinstated. Those with suspended driving licenses are put into a national data base of suspended drivers, which is avilable to all states. This is a serious matter. It cannot be dealt with effectively from long distance.

Re: Default judgement without notification of trial

That's a lot of coplex issues. I believe this is a follow-up to your inquiry from March 26, 2002. As for the New Mexico judgment, we really do need more specific information, such as whether you (or your attorney) ever filed an Answer (or made an appearance) in the NM action. My suspicion would be that there was not a true "trial," but a cursory presentation of evidence, probably an Affidavit, heard by a Judge, who entered a Default Judgment in the amount paid by the Plaintiff's uninsured motorist carrier. Your first issue is the validity of the NM judgment. That would, of course, require a close reading of the NM file, as well as an understanding of NM laws. You do raise a good point about notice; as a general matter, if you had made an appearance, I would think they had a duty to notify you (or your lawyer) of a pending proceeding, e.g. a hearing on their motion for default judgment. That could, conceivably, provide a basis for vacating the NM judgment (to be done in NM). My hunch, however, would be that the NM Default Judgment was proper, simply because most lawyers would follow the rules, which are simple enough. The question then becomes the enforceability of the NM judgment in NC. In general, it would be entitled to "full faith and credit" in NC, but they would have to go through a fairly simple procedure for registering (or domesticating) the judgment here. They would of course then have to deal with our collection laws, which is another ball of wax. As for bankruptcy, that is yet another ball of wax. We would need to know much more about your financial situation. One primary legal option would be to challenge the NM judgment in NM somehow, but this would not be inexpensive, and may not be successful. As a practical matter, the insurance company may be willing to accept some portion or percentage of the Judgment. I would be surprised if they would not accept half of the judgment, to be paid in installmants. They might even accept less. Of course, a lot of this is tied into the issue of whether their payment to the Plaintiff/Claimant was reasonable, or instead excessive. All in all, you do have a lot of issues. You probably need to consult an attorney, especially if you have any collectible assets. Finally, as to whether the NM judgment would affect your NC license, I do not know. I understand that under some circumstances a NC judgment arising from an auto accident can result in the loss of driver's license. I do not know about a "foreign" civil judgment.