We help our clients who are parties to legal disputes outside of Florida collect monies owed to them in Florida. Whether you have a foreign judgment or an arbitration award, we can help you collect the losing party’s assets located in Florida.
A judgment is an official decision of a court. It is the final determination of the rights of the parties in a legal action or proceeding. If there was a loss suffered, the judgment may include damages, a monetary compensation for the loss suffered. If the judgment comes from a court outside the state of Florida, in Florida it is said to be a foreign judgment.
A foreign judgment must go through the process of domestication in order for a prevailing party to collect money for, or enforce the judgment in Florida. This requirement comes from the Florida Domestication of Foreign Judgments Act.
Domestication is a separate litigation process that requires a special hearing to grant an order to recognize the foreign judgment in Florida. Once the judgment has been recognized, a Florida Final Judgment will be issued. This final judgment is fully enforceable in Florida, and will allow your Florida attorney to collect the monies owed to you in the foreign judgment.
An award is the official decision rendered by arbitrators. It is the final determination of the controversy submitted to them in arbitration, and it is binding in virtually every jurisdiction. If there are damages attached to the award, and the losing party has assets in Florida, the prevailing party may seize those assets. While an arbitration award does not require domestication, is subject to a different body of international laws and rules. Among other factors, enforcing an arbitration award depends on the member status of the countries of the parties to certain Conventions and the existence of Treaties. At a minimum, to enforce an arbitration award in Florida you must file Petition to Enforce the award.
Take note: if the prevailing party was a business, that business needs to hire an attorney to represent it, either in the domestication process or in the enforcement of the award. This is because a business is required by law to hire an attorney to represent it. Choose a Florida business attorney who has experience collecting judgments and awards for his clients.
