In most cases, the object of the litigation exercise for plaintiffs is to obtain a judgment that can be enforced. This is usually not a problem when the debtor is operating an ongoing business, using bank accounts and engaging with customers who owe it money. When, however, the judgment debtor is foreign and has no ongoing business operations and no visible assets, the usual approach of enforcing a judgment against it by identifying the debtor’s assets and levying on them becomes more challenging. Two recent, related New York decisions illustrate the difficulties in pursuing certain foreign debtors.
The cases concern a lawsuit brought by Motorola in the Southern District of New York based on claims of fraud and misapplication of funds, in which it was awarded, in 2003, a substantial judgment for over $2 billion against members of the Turkish Uzan family, who failed to defend the lawsuit on the merits. In 2006, these damages were supplemented by an award of $1 billion in punitive damages.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
