Understanding Court Judgments: Definition, Process, and Examples

What Is a Judgment?

A judgment is a court's decision that settles a dispute by defining the rights and obligations of the parties involved. It can require one side to pay money or transfer property, which is called a monetary judgment, or it can order non-monetary actions, like requiring someone to perform a service or stop certain behavior. Judgments are legally enforceable, though collecting on them can sometimes be difficult if the losing party refuses to comply.

Key Takeaways

Judgments are legally enforceable court orders that may require monetary compensation or non-monetary actions, such as performing a service or transferring property, to resolve disputes between parties.
Judgments are categorized into in personam, in rem, and quasi in rem, each defining different scopes of liability and property rights between the involved parties.
While civil judgments typically involve private disputes with potential monetary awards, criminal judgments focus on government actions against individuals for breaking criminal laws, which may result in fines or imprisonment.
Collecting on a judgment can be challenging and is not always successful; creditors may pursue debtor examinations, bank account seizures, or liens to enforce payment.
Exemptions under state laws may protect certain personal or real property from being seized to satisfy a judgment, providing some relief to debtors.

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Types of Court Judgments Explained

Judgments are classified as:

In personam is the most common type of judgment that holds one entity personally liable to another.
In rem imposes a general liability over a thing, such as property, but no personal liability.
Quasi in rem determines the rights of an individual, rather than all parties, in a particular thing, such as property.

Judgments are usually monetary, but can also be non-monetary.

Monetary judgment: If someone has been harmed in some way, they will seek to resolve the dispute in court and collect damages by filing a lawsuit. The resulting court judgment orders the loser of that lawsuit to pay the winner a specified sum of money.
Non-monetary judgment: A contractor may be forced to complete a job rather than settle the dispute by paying money.

Various Legal Judgments: Examples and Definitions

There are countless types of judgments that more specifically break a judgment between financial/monetary or non-financial/non-monetary. More specific types of judgments include:

Default Judgment: This occurs if one party doesn't answer or show up in court. The judge may grant the other party a default judgment.
Summary Judgment: This is when the judge issues a summary judgment without a full trial if there is no genuine disagreement as to any material facts in the case.
Final Judgment: This is the court's final determination, finishing the litigation process and addressing all the problems in a case.
Interlocutory Judgment: This is a partial or interim judgment that tackles a particular point in the case without conclusively addressing the overall dispute.
Injunction Judgment: This is when a judge issues a court order requiring a party to follow specified procedures or to carry out particular tasks.
Declaratory Judgment: This is a ruling that establishes the status, rights, or duties of the parties to a lawsuit.
Judgment of Acquittal: This is a ruling where a judge releases the defendant once the defendant is found not guilty.
Consent Judgment: This is a decision made by both parties to a dispute that has been resolved by settlement or agreement.

Important Considerations for Enforcing Judgments

Usually, judgments involve money because it’s the most suitable way to compensate for harm. As of 2018, judgments are no longer reported on a debtor's credit report. This policy followed a settlement between major credit bureaus Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, and 30 state attorneys general. Since this isn't based on a law, it could change in the future.

Winning a lawsuit is just the first step in collecting the money owed from a judgment. Actually collecting the money from the debtor can be a long, arduous, and not always successful, process. However, judgments are enforceable by law. If the debtor refuses to pay, the creditor might hold a debtor's examination, seize bank accounts, place a lien on property, or hire a collector.

Important

Winning a court judgment may be only the first step to collecting a debt obligation. While judgments are legally binding, collecting payments is an expensive and often fruitless process.

Real-World Judgment Scenarios

For example, if a borrower does not repay a loan or a credit card debt, the lender or creditor can obtain a judgment to force the borrower to pay. As another example, a landlord who evicted a tenant for not paying the rent might file a lawsuit to collect the unpaid rent, and if the landlord won the lawsuit, it would result in a judgment against the tenant.

In a regulatory context, many corporate defendants seek to reach a negotiated settlement rather than risk a costly and unpredictable litigation process. When Wells Fargo employees were discovered to have defrauded millions of customers to improve their own performance metrics, the bank ultimately agreed to pay $3 billion in fines in order to resolve their civil and criminal liabilities. They were also forced to enhance their compliance measures and eliminate senior managers who had been overlooked the scale of the fraud.

The scandal, which first came to light in 2016, was a severe blow to the bank's floundering reputation and an even bigger blow to its share price. Although Wells Fargo stock rose with the rest of the market over the following five years, the bank continued to pay out civil penalties, with shares tumbling with each new enforcement action. In addition to regulatory actions, the bank is also facing litigation from investors who believe that they were defrauded by Wells Fargo's management.

Tip

Creditors can seize property for a judgment, but most states exempt certain properties, like a primary home or vehicle.

Comparing Civil and Criminal Judgments

U.S. courts distinguish between Civil actions involve disputes between individuals or organizations. Civil actions represent disputes between two individuals or organizations. For example, a customer may seek a civil judgment against a company for a breached contract, or two neighbors may seek legal remedies in a property dispute. Civil judgments often lead to monetary compensation, but they can also include fines or penalties.

In comparison, a criminal judgment seeks punishment for violations of criminal law, such as theft or fraud. Whereas civil cases are usually between private individuals, criminal cases are launched by attorneys representing the government itself. In addition to monetary fines and penalties, criminal judgments may also entail imprisonment or loss of certain legal rights or privileges.

What Is a Summary Judgment?

A summary judgment is a judgment made by a court or judge without conducting a full trial. Either party in a legal dispute may move for summary judgment, provided that there is no disagreement about the material facts of the case. This allows both litigants to avoid the expense of a full trial. However, if a party moves for summary judgment, the judge will always examine the facts in the light most favorable to their opponent. For this reason, most parties to a lawsuit will avoid summary judgment unless they believe that the law is firmly on their side.

How Can You Avoid Paying a Judgment?

While a judgment should not be ignored, there are ways to protect some property from being collected. Most state laws offer exemptions that protect certain types of property, such as a primary home or vehicle, as long as the value of that property is below a certain limit.

In addition, some types of personal property can be protected under a chapter 7 bankruptcy, allowing debtors to discharge their obligations without giving up their basic property.

What Personal Property Can Be Seized in a Judgment?

When collecting a judgment, creditors can try to seize any property that is not exempt under state laws. This can include real property, vehicles, bank accounts, securities, wages, or even future claims on property. However, state laws often allow you to keep some property up until a certain amount, and debtors may be able to protect any property if its loss would cause them undue hardship. In addition, most creditors will generally not pursue tangible personal property, such as jewelry or clothing, unless it is especially valuable.

What Is a Judgment Lien?

A judgment lien is a court ruling that allows one party to take possession of another's property, usually in satisfaction of a debt or similar obligation. A judgment lien allows the creditor to take over the debtors' real or personal property, such as houses, vehicles, or other personal property.

The Bottom Line

Judgments are the formal decisions courts issue to resolve disputes, laying out what each party must do. They can be monetary, like requiring payment of damages, or non-monetary, such as ordering someone to stop certain actions.

Judgments come in different forms, including in personam (against a person), in rem (against property), and quasi in rem (limited to specific property), and can arise from both civil and criminal cases. Types include summary, default, and final judgments.

Creditors may enforce judgments through wage garnishment, liens, or property seizure, though collection can be difficult and sometimes unsuccessful. Exemptions and protections may limit what can be taken, and while judgments are enforceable, they eventually fall off credit reports.