Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Oregon

Re: Dismissing a judgment - Refiling in another state

I would NOT suggest you do as you are contemplating, at least not without an IN-OFFICE CONSULTATION with a lawyer! My off-the-cuff impression is this: Presuming that you've gotten a legit judgment (I don't know what a general judgment is, though), if there were a way to "dismiss" it, then you might face the civil law equivalent of "double-jeopardy," but it's different -- it's called "Res Judicata," meaning that the matter has ALREADY been decided, albeit elsewhere -- and the person you're suing might well raise that as a defense.

Also, judgments are ordinarily removed either because they expire (I think that's ten years in Oregon), or "Satisfied," not dismissed -- and I don't imagine you'd want to indicate that this judgment has been satisfied.

Now, understand, I do NOT have experience DIRECTLY on point, and I have very bare-bones information from YOU, so I would NOT RELY on this info. One thing I WOULD do is TALK to a lawyer, in person. PAY a few bucks for a quick consultation, probably with a COLLECTIONS lawyer -- they usually know this sort of stuff VERY well, so it shouldn't be an expensive consult. Check in advance on that.

Any way you look at it, paying a lawyer for a consult is cheap insurance, vs. doing it yourself. If YOU mess up, you've no recourse. But if you hire a lawyer, even for just a short consult, and THEY mess up, you have an avenue of recourse: At least in Oregon, we have MANDATORY legal malpractice insurance. Where it is not mandatory, most lawyers buy it anyway. There is also a client security fund, to try to redress some wrongs done by downright fraudulent lawyer activity, which, fortunately, doesn't happen TOO often!

Good luck,

Sam Hochberg