Don't Navigate Your Situation Alone Have Qualified Professionals Working for You SCHEDULE A FREE CONSULTATION

Enforcement of Judgments

Civil Judgment Enforcement & Judgment Recovery Services in Chicago, IL

Winning the lawsuit is the first step, next comes collecting or enforcing the judgment. The Law Office of Douglas R. Johnson has obtained and collected tens of millions of dollars in judgments for our clients. Often, getting the judgment is the easy part — and the hard part is converting judgments into real money or assets for our clients.

If you are looking for a law firm that is familiar with how to get civil judgment enforcement, you have come to the right place. Our firm can perform the following services for you to assist you in getting back the money that is owed to you:

  • Wage Garnishments

  • Citation to Discover Assets and Debtor's Examinations

  • Levies

  • Third-Party Citations to financial institutions or other third parties that owe the judgment debtor money

  • Asset searches and other investigative measures

  • Non-Wage Garnishments

  • Settlement and Forbearance Agreements

  • Creation of liens on real and personal property

  • Turnover Orders

  • Sister-State and Foreign Judgment Registration

  • Charging Orders on LLC Interests

Our judgment recovery services are specifically tailored to serve individuals and businesses alike. In addition, we serve out of state attorneys to help them get civil judgment enforcement against an Illinois judgment debtor. We would be happy to assist you and offer a free consultation.

Winning Is Only the First Step
NOW GET WHAT YOU'RE OWED

Judgment Collection Process

Collect Money from Individuals or Businesses in Chicago, IL

Judgment collection efforts are fact-sensitive, but oftentimes we recommend a citation to discover assets. Here are further steps that the Law Office of Douglas R Johnson will take for the judgment collection process.

The First Step:

  • Obtaining a judgment against the person or entity who owes you money.

  • We can assist with this on a flat fee basis if you do not have a judgment collection in place in Illinois.

The Second Step:

  • If you already have a judgment in place in Illinois, the next step is collecting the judgment. This is a very complicated process. In fact, many of our clients are lawyers who engage us to help them with this specific area of law. Here is what we can do in order of preference:

  1. Issue a Citation to Discover Assets to a Financial Institution. In English, we serve papers on a bank, freeze the account and have the funds go directly to you.

  2. Issue a Citation to the Debtor’s Employer. It's harder and you won;t get a huge lump sum but if the debtor keeps working you will get paid.

  3. Lien on real property. If they have property, we get the judgment, record it and you get Illinois post judgment rate on a secured property.

  4. Turnover of property. If we know of a specific property, (sometimes with the help of a private investigator) we can ask the court to sell it. We can also foreclose on real property as well, but it can be expensive.

  5. Charging orders. We can make an LLC turnover distributions to you rather than the debtor.

  6. Citation to Discover Assets to the Debtor. Most lawyers do this one first, but it's basically an action that asks the judgment debtor where is your money? Debtors are reluctant to comply and are often less than forthright. However, if you do not have any other leads, this is the way to go.

Enforce Judgments Through the Citation to Discover Assets

Illinois law allows for a creditor to attempt to collect on the judgment to appear before the court on a Citation to Discover Assets, which is a tool to discover and recover assets of a debtor. A citation to discover assets allows a creditor to compel a debtor to give complete disclosure of the debtor's financial situation. In Illinois, a citation to discover assets is a powerful tool in that it can be used to perform any action that can be used in all other post-judgment procedures.

The citation to discover assets is a continuing lien on any of the debtor's property and allows for a creditor to discover all assets belonging to the debtor. This is an extraordinary remedy that can be used to reach recalcitrant or dishonest debtors who are unwilling (but often able) to satisfy the judgments entered against them. A citation to discover assets does many things that other post-judgment procedures such as wage garnishments and nonwage garnishments don't. Namely, a citation to discover assets creates a continuing lien upon service on the debtor or a third-party that you believe may have assets of the debtor. In addition, it creates a lien on all personal property.

Next, a citation to discover assets requires the respondent to appear personally in court or they may be held in contempt of court. In addition, you can serve the citation to discover assets via certified mail and you may be able to get attorney fees in a citation to discover assets proceeding.

Law Office of Douglas R Johnson has extensive experience in collecting and enforcing judgments via a citation to discover assets. If you have a judgment in Chicago, IL or surrounding areas, please contact us to assist you. Contact us if you want to proceed with the flat fee of $800 and attempting to discuss your judgment collection case further via a citation to discover assets.

Click Here to Download Your Enforcing and Collecting on Judgments in Illinois Ebook. We hope this ebook assists you in navigating your way through the in's and out's of enforcing a judgment in Illinois.