Hollywood has done a fine job of creating courtroom drama riveting enough to keep us glued to our seats and staring at a screen. But Hollywood portrayals of civil and criminal law don’t reflect reality – at least not accurately. A classic example is Hollywood’s version of a civil judgment compared with what happens in the real world.
Winning a civil court case results in obtaining a paper judgment. The phrase ‘paper judgment’ is a legal term that acts as a professional shorthand among attorneys, judgment collection agencies, and others in the industry. To the judgment creditor, ‘paper judgment’ is a sobering reminder of the realities of civil law.
Just a Piece of Paper
The term ‘paper judgment’ was chosen intentionally to bridge the gap between a legal victory and actual monetary recovery. To understand how this applies, you first need to know how money judgments work.
All sorts of civil disputes can end with the court granting a monetary award to one party. That monetary award is known as a money judgment. However, the court’s decision doesn’t become official until it is entered by the court clerk. Judgment entry produces an actual document that makes the decision official.
The good news is that the creditor now has legal recognition of an outstanding debt created by the money judgment. The bad news is that the record is just a piece of paper containing key information about the case. It is virtually useless unless a creditor is willing to take the necessary steps to recover what is owed.
Legal vs. Practical Reality
The difference between a paper judgment and actual recovery is the difference between legal and practical reality. From a legal standpoint, a paper judgment is enforceable. That is the entire purpose for going to civil court to begin with. But that paper judgment must be converted into cash for it to have any value.
There are two things to consider here:
- The Document – A paper judgment includes a signed order from the court confirming the existence of the debt. It is a document that gives you the legal authority to utilize collection strategies like garnishment and property liens.
- The Reality – A paper judgment merely documents the court’s order. The court itself does not get involved in collection. That means you, as the creditor, are fully responsible for any and all recovery efforts.
Plaintiffs in civil cases often go to court without understanding the legal and practical realities of a money judgment. They assume that the court will enforce a money judgment in the same way a criminal court enforces a conviction. But that is not the way it works. Courts produce paper judgments. It is up to creditors to turn those paper judgments into actual cash.
Why the Term Is Used
The term is utilized by experts to underscore potential collection issues. For example, a creditor might contact Salt Lake City, Utah’s Judgment Collectors. A thorough review might lead a Judgment Collectors representative to tell the creditor that he has a case that could ultimately wind up being just a ‘paper judgment’.
Such a description would indicate that Judgment Collectors thinks there are collection issues that could seriously undermine recovery. This isn’t to say that attempting recovery is a bad idea. It is to say that the creditor may not fully recover every penny owed.
Converting a paper judgment into full payment can be challenging. Sometimes creditors get every penny they are owed, sometimes they settle for less, and sometimes they get nothing at all. It is the uncomfortable reality of civil court and money judgments.
