# Legal question about a judgment **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 26, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-a-judgment/755754 "2016-05-26T18:19:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-a-judgment/755754/21 "2016-05-27T00:41:12Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Has he filed an appeal of the judgment? He filed a Motion for Amended Findings with the district court, which was denied. He then filed an appeal with the IL Court of Appeals and the trial will be held in July. According to her lawyers, there will be no testimony and the only thing the court of appeals will review is HOW the law was applied. The court will not “retry the case”. He will have to show that the judge misapplied the law or abused his discretion, but (again according to her lawyer) the findings of fact will stand. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-a-judgment/755754/22 "2016-05-27T00:45:34Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > Geeze - stuff like this makes me crazy - the court system really isn’t set up for poor people. She can always take her chances and file her own response, but depending on where she is - it depends on how friendly they are to pro se litigants. > > There are also law clinics run by law schools (my dad used them once) - not sure what else to tell you. Not sure where she is geographically, or what her personal income situation is, but if she were in Chicago I’d refer her to [Legal Assistance Foundation.](https://www.lafchicago.org/get-help/client-services/our-legal-services) There’s an agency like this in many places around the U.S. If they can’t represent her, maybe they can refer her to a different attorney or give her some pointers on representing herself. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-a-judgment/755754/23 "2016-05-27T00:55:12Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > I think she needs to talk to somebody experienced in Illinois collections law. The 15% limit is for consumer debt, and child support isn’t consumer debt. See [Illinois Child Support Services](https://newhire.hfs.illinois.gov/NewHireWeb/IncomeWithholding.jsp), which indicates that they can garnish up to 50% (or even more if there are arrears) for the kids. [This lawyer’s page](http://lauterjunglaw.com/blog/2012/12/12/illinois-wage-garnishments/) says that with one child, wage garnishment can be 25% for child support + judgment, but with two kids she’ll have to wait. She has 2 kids & I am not exactly sure how much money he makes, but I’m estimating the child support/spousal maintenance is about 50% of his net pay. I will advise her to get a second opinion like DataX suggested. She’s pretty much broke and in major debt to her lawyers now (which is why I am seeking advice on her behalf on the internet), so I’m not sure she will take on the added expense. I do appreciate the advice of those of you who took the time to reply! ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-a-judgment/755754/24 "2016-05-27T01:02:46Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > Not sure where she is geographically, or what her personal income situation is, but if she were in Chicago I’d refer her to [Legal Assistance Foundation.](https://www.lafchicago.org/get-help/client-services/our-legal-services) There’s an agency like this in many places around the U.S. If they can’t represent her, maybe they can refer her to a different attorney or give her some pointers on representing herself. She is about an hour outside of Chicago, so thank you for this! ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-a-judgment/755754/25 "2016-05-27T17:08:28Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > He filed a Motion for Amended Findings with the district court, which was denied. He then filed an appeal with the IL Court of Appeals and the trial will be held in July. According to her lawyers, there will be no testimony and the only thing the court of appeals will review is HOW the law was applied. The court will not “retry the case”. He will have to show that the judge misapplied the law or abused his discretion, but (again according to her lawyer) the findings of fact will stand. The fact that the case is still open on appeal may go a long way to explaining why he hasn’t paid the judgment. Depending on the issues, the lower court might be directed to recalculate the judgment according to different criteria, and the amount might be reduced or even completely wiped away. In many jurisdictions, if he posted a bond with his appeal, or if the court ruled that a bond was not required, then he may have no legal obligation to pay the judgment until all appeals are complete. Disclaimer: This is just anonymous noodling on the internet. This is not legal advice and should not be relied upon. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-a-judgment/755754/26 "2016-05-31T02:26:53Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > Wow - I didn’t realize they limited to 15%. > > At least she’s getting child support. > > The situation really sucks, but I doubt there is much she can do as I assume a forensic account costs a decent amount of money. On the plus side I guess that means her attorneys can’t garnish more than 15% of her wages… Her attorneys CAN, however, decline to represent her in the future. I strongly advise against going pro se especially if he has a lawyer - a friend was very, very badly harmed recently by doing this (she herself had no money, pro bono family attorneys are nonexistent). She should however subpoena all his financial and employment records - is he working at all? If so, how is the employer paying him? What about his tax records? This guy sounds like a real piece of shit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-about-a-judgment/755754.md?page=1)