My old lawsuit

[Theo Huxtable 48]

Need some simple lawyer expertise! I'm not sure how to ask this correctly without a little backstory...

I was a full-time employee of at a small Austin company ~15 years ago when the company fell behind on paychecks as the company struggled. The CEO/owner kept promising via email to pay me as I continued working (lesson learned). He never payed me, and I think he filed for company and personal bankruptcy instead. I don't know for sure.

So, I found a lawyer that agreed to take the case on contingency basis since he was just starting out in employment law and he was recommended by a mutual lawyer friend in a different field of law. Anyway, the lawyer filed in small claims court for the $10k owed. He told me that we won since the boss guy failed to show up in court. The lawyer said he was able to win a lien on him for the company and him personally. However, the lawyer and financial company he contracted wasn't able to find any actual money that I could get.

Meanwhile, the guy started a new company, owns a boat, and probably lives a comfortable life. So how can I see if the lawyer actually did file suit and I actually won? And if I have a personal lien on the boss, why aren't I getting money from him as he makes it? 

[tx 3 putt 77,458]

i would pay for a good employment lawyer

[Jerry Callo 8,731]

18 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

i would pay for a good employment lawyer

That ship sailed ~15 years ago.  If there is a judgment and if that judgment was abstracted and if the abstracted judgment was kept alive through attempts to collect, then you need a collection attorney.

You can search the official public records for Travis County or which ever county(ies) the judgment should have been abstracted in to see if it was.  You could probably search by Theo Huxtable or the name of your former employer.

[TwiceHorn 31,539]

21 minutes ago, Theo Huxtable said:

Need some simple lawyer expertise! I'm not sure how to ask this correctly without a little backstory...

I was a full-time employee of at a small Austin company ~15 years ago when the company fell behind on paychecks as the company struggled. The CEO/owner kept promising via email to pay me as I continued working (lesson learned). He never payed me, and I think he filed for company and personal bankruptcy instead. I don't know for sure.

So, I found a lawyer that agreed to take the case on contingency basis since he was just starting out in employment law and he was recommended by a mutual lawyer friend in a different field of law. Anyway, the lawyer filed in small claims court for the $10k owed. He told me that we won since the boss guy failed to show up in court. The lawyer said he was able to win a lien on him for the company and him personally. However, the lawyer and financial company he contracted wasn't able to find any actual money that I could get.

Meanwhile, the guy started a new company, owns a boat, and probably lives a comfortable life. So how can I see if the lawyer actually did file suit and I actually won? And if I have a personal lien on the boss, why aren't I getting money from him as he makes it? 

Ok, first off, who did you sue?  The guy individually or his company/corporation/entity that employed you?  Or both?  A judgment or lien is only good against the person or entity sued. 

Then, who filed bankruptcy? A bankruptcy by the person or entity sued is probably going to have discharged that debt, i.e. wiped it out.

The "lien" is an abstract of judgment lien that is of dubious worth.  Such a lien only attaches to non-exempt (non-homestead) real property in the county in which it is filed.  Nothing about it is automatic in terms of you getting money just because.  Many/most/some lenders will require that such abstracts of judgment be released (paid/settled and released by you) before lending to the judgment debtor, even when the loan is secured by homestead/exempt property.  That's the closest you ever come to getting relief from an abstract of judgment lien alone.

Currently, if your judgment was signed 10 years ago, or more, it is dormant and ineffective, as a lien or anything else. Or, if a writ of execution was served, 10 years from that date (or another 10 years from any subsequent writ of execution that was executed).

You have up to 12 years (two years after a judgment goes dormant) to revive it by moving the court that issued it to do so.  Mostly a formality.  But if 12 years have elapsed since the judgment was signed or any writ of execution served, you're mostly out of luck.

A large percentage of lawyers have no idea how to collect a judgment by force, including almost all biglaw lawyers and most that have any specialty other than "collections."

 

[Dr Fear 1,268]

I don't do BK, but I believe that you had to file a claim with the bankruptcy court.  I think everything else was then discharged.  You probably would have only gotten a few cents on a dollar, if anything.

[TwiceHorn 31,539]

1 hour ago, Dr Fear said:

I don't do BK, but I believe that you had to file a claim with the bankruptcy court.  I think everything else was then discharged.  You probably would have only gotten a few cents on a dollar, if anything.

That he may not have been notified of the bankruptcy might avoid discharge, if the debt wasn't scheduled, which is highly possible, but jumping those hoops would be a major pain in the ass.

If the bankruptcies were "no asset" chapter 7s, then lack of scheduling/notice is irrelevant.

Edited October 12, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[Updawg 2,286]

Just sue him again.

[South Austin 52,620]

Ask him if you can borrow his boat for a weekend.

[SizzleChest 8,284]

 

[KaiserSoze 998]

 

Username checks out.

[shakahorn 1,645]

14 hours ago, South Austin said:

Ask him if you can borrow his boat for a weekend.

And have sex with his wife.

[Theo Huxtable 48]

Before this case, I assumed collecting money was like in TV shows. Some repo men would show up at his door and start taking furniture to sell and give me money. 

[NeverMarryAStripper 21,928]

If you're the IRS it does.