Flyover 4: Judgment Recognition

Welcome back. In this lesson, we're going to touch on the highlights of judgment recognition. Basically, we are talking about situations in which one court has rendered a judgment in a particular lawsuit, and then we're trying to figure out whether a court in another state is going to recognize that judgment.

Why does this matter? Let's take a simple example. Imagine that a plaintiff has won a $10,000 verdict in State X because the defendant breached a contract. Well, the defendant won't pay up, so the plaintiff needs to execute on the judgment and needs to do that in a place where the defendant has assets that can be seized. And let's say those assets are in another state, State Y.

The plaintiff is taking the State X judgment to State Y and asking the court there to enforce the judgment. The plaintiff isn't trying to relitigate the case. She's basically just saying, "I have a valid judgment from State X, and dear State Court Y, I want you simply to recognize this judgment and help me enforce it."

Basic Rule

Let's start with the overarching rule here, and then we'll get into a couple of specific issues. The single most important rule is this: a judgment is entitled to the same effect in courts throughout the country as it has in the state that renders the judgment. This rule is largely deriving from the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution, that's in Article IV, and the Full Faith and Credit statute.

Now, these provisions are in some ways at the heart of what it means to be a single country. States are supposed to respect one another's judgments. So in our earlier example, the plaintiff won a $10,000 judgment in State X, so State Y isn't going to force the plaintiff to relitigate the breach of contract claim. State Y is simply going to recognize the judgment as valid and allow the plaintiff to enforce it.

So again, the most fundamental rule here is that a judgment will be entitled to the same effect in courts throughout the country as it does in the state that rendered the judgment.

Requirements

Now, we could spend hours talking about the nuances of judgment recognition, but that's just not necessary for the bar exam. I do want to point out a few requirements and one way that the bar examiners might try to trip you up.

A judgment is going to be entitled to recognition in other states as long as that judgment meets a few basic requirements: number 1, we want to know whether the judgment is valid, meaning whether the rendering court, which in our example was State X, had jurisdiction; number 2, the judgment needs to be final, meaning that there's no longer any possibility for appeal; and number 3, the judgment did not result from a dismissal for lack of jurisdiction or improper venue.

That is to say, we want to make sure that the judgment is valid, final, and not the result of a jurisdictional or venue dismissal.

Now, here's the little quirk that sometimes comes up. Suppose that the rendering court in State X did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the lawsuit. The plaintiff then tries to enforce the judgment in State Y. May the court in State Y decline to recognize the judgment because it isn't valid, that is to say, it isn't supported by jurisdiction?

Well, it turns out that the answer is usually no. The reason for this is that as long as the jurisdictional issue was fully and fairly litigated in Xtate X, then the judgment is still entitled to recognition, even if that first court in State X screwed up.

So in a lot of ways, this just comes back to our overarching rule. Once we have a final judgment and all of the appeals have been exhausted, we're done. There's no relitigating that final judgment, even if the court in State X was wrong about whether it had jurisdiction.

Child Custody

There's one specific area that the bar examiners occasionally do like to test in this area, and that's child custody. Now, this area used to be a mess, but there's now a uniform statute that nearly every state in the country has adopted: the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. That is a mouthful.

If you remember anything, just remember the acronym, UCCJEA. And if you remember that acronym, great. But even if you don't, that's really not the most important thing. The most critical thing from your perspective is to know the rule, and here it's pretty simple. A court in the child's home state is allowed to make a custody decision about the child, and all other states have to give full faith and credit to that decision.

So, really, all you're looking for is whether a court in the child's home state made a custody determination. If so, then other courts aren't allowed to second-guess that.

Summary

All right, to recap, you want to bear in mind the overarching rule that courts will usually give the same recognition to a judgment that the rendering court would give to its own judgment. And you want to remember the rule about a child's home state when it comes to custody decisions. As always, keep this straightforward, and don't get bogged down in the details.

Thanks very much, everyone.