Fidelity National Financial v. Colin Friedman

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs Fidelity National Financial, Inc., and Fidelity Express Network, Inc. (together “Fidelity”), obtained a multimillion dollar civil fraud judgment against defendants in 2002 in the Central District of California. We dismissed defendants’ appeal on April 16, 2003, and the judgment thus became final on May 15, 2003. Defendants, however, have satisfied only approximately 0.3% of the amount due and still owe more than $10 million, including interest.

While defendants’ appeal in the original case was pending in 2002, Fidelity registered the California judgment in the District of Arizona pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1963. In 2007, however, the Arizona registered judgment expired under that state’s five-year statute of limitations for the enforcement of judgments.1 Fidelity’s subsequent attempt to renew the Arizona registered judgment or re-register the California judgment was rejected by the district court.

Unable to enforce the Arizona registered judgment or re- register the original California judgment, Fidelity got creative. In 2011, Fidelity registered the California judgment in the Western District of Washington. Fidelity then registered the Washington judgment…