Southern California Post-Judgment Relief Attorneys
Judgments entered in civil cases are sometimes changed or eliminated (set aside or vacated) altogether. This process occurs either in the trial court or in the appellate court. If you have had a judgment entered against you and want to know what you can do to reduce the judgment, or get rid of it altogether, The Walker Law Firm can help you evaluate your options. Likewise, if you have had a judgment entered in your favor and believe the damages were inadequate or the judgment debtor has filed a motion asking for a different judgment or new trial, The Walker Law Firm can help you evaluate your options as well.
The Walker Law Firm represents businesses and individuals in post-judgment matters in both the trial courts and appellate courts. The grounds for such proceedings, as well as the rules and procedures, are different in the two courts.
When sufficient grounds exist, litigants sometimes benefit by first pursuing relief in the trial court.
The type of relief sought at the trial level will depend on many factors, including whether the judgment was entered after a jury trial, non-jury trial, or default, when it was entered, the course of events leading to the judgment, the type of error claimed, and the harm caused by the error. In very general terms the judgment will be modified or even eliminated, if there has been a prejudicial error or miscarriage of justice entitling the party to a different judgment or new trial. This can include such errors as: jury misconduct, erroneous evidentiary rulings, failure to give a proper jury instruction, excessive or inadequate damages, irregularity in the proceedings, insufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict, extrinsic fraud or mistake, void judgments, and judgments inconsistent with or unsupported by the court's decision or the jury's special verdict.
The key to our success is understanding the procedures
Post-judgment relief at the trial level is a thicket of rules and procedures. The inability to understand the timelines, procedures and standards can result in the inability of even a meritorious motion. The Walker Law Firm understands these procedures and how best to utilize them to our clients' advantage.
The Walker Law Firm has been hired by litigants after multi-million dollar judgments were entered against them. For some of those clients, The Walker Law Firm was successful in not only eliminating the judgment, but also obtaining dismissals of the actions without the need for further litigation.
The Walker Law Firm meticulously reviews the court record in order to identify matters that call into question the procedural fairness of the proceedings, and then moves to correct the error.
The type of motions utilized in a particular case can include Motions for New Trial, Motions for Judgments Notwithstanding the Verdict (JNOV), Motions to Set Aside Judgments, Motions for Relief from Judgment, and Motions to Vacate and Enter Different Judgments. Some of these motions request the court to change the judgment, others request that the judgment be eliminated (set aside or vacated) and a new trial occur on some or all of the issues.
If you have had a judgment entered against you, contact The Walker Law Firm in Orange County and Riverside to speak with a lawyer knowledgeable about the post-judgment relief that may be available to you.
