Alexander Passo's Relentless Judgment Collection Efforts Save LLF Client's Retirement Savings After Fraud

Obtaining a judgment in a lawsuit against a party that owes you money is a significant step towards recovering the amounts due. But a judgment is simply a piece of paper; you can't deposit it into your bank account or mark the debt as paid on your ledger. While some judgment debtors may pony up with little resistance, others are quite content to sit back, hide behind shell companies or engage in other efforts to shield their assets, and smugly tell their judgment creditor to "come and get it."

That is why, as LLF’s Alexander Passo recently illustrated, aggressive and strategic efforts are often required to collect a money judgment. Long after the ink had dried on a summary judgment he obtained on behalf of a client who had been defrauded out of most of her retirement savings, and despite the defendant’s determined resistance, Passo successfully collected over a quarter-million dollars in compensatory and punitive damages, as well as reimbursement of the attorney’s fees his client incurred.

LLF represented a woman who loaned a friend $250,000 pursuant to a written loan agreement and promissory note, ostensibly for a joint venture investment. That money represented a significant portion of the client’s nest egg. The friend/borrower essentially ran off with the money, used it for her own purposes, and failed to repay the loan when due. To add insult to injury, the borrower also fraudulently used the client’s Social Security number without her knowledge or consent to open several credit card accounts under her name, incurring thousands of dollars in charges.

After Passo obtained a judgment for all amounts due plus additional damages, the debtor unsuccessfully attempted to vacate the judgment. Passo then engaged in a multipronged collection campaign against the debtor and entities she owned, ultimately exerting enough sustained pressure alleging fraudulent conveyance and piercing the corporate veil theories that the debtor abandoned her efforts to obstruct the collection efforts and satisfied the judgment.

The firm congratulates Alex on the tremendous result he obtained for our client.