Opinion ID: 1646811
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Potential Abuse in Execution of Money Judgments

Text: In concluding that an unexercised right to file suit is not subject to seizure, we are confident that we have reached a practical and just result in this matter. To hold otherwise, we would be inviting potential abuse in the execution of money judgments. In support, we are cautioned by the fact there is no judicial proceeding involved in the issuance of a writ of fieri facias wherein the legality of the proposed seizure is addressed. Rather, the clerk of court is vested with the sole ministerial authority regarding the issuance of a writ of fieri facias under ordinary process. La. C.C.P. art. 2253. In the instant case, the language in the writ issued by the Webster Parish Clerk of Court relevant to the property subject of seizure, and that which was subsequently executed on, was verbatim that which the plaintiff articulated in her formal written request for the issuance of the writ. The order was rather limited in scope regarding the seizure of inchoate rights, insofar as it only confiscated, albeit without legal basis, the potential claims Ms. Theus had against the defendants stemming from their alleged misconduct giving rise to the excess judgment. With this in mind, in allowing the seizure of inchoate rights, we foresee misuse of the executory procedure wherein the language pertinent to that being seized is overly broad and vague. Inclusion of language articulating the seizure of any claims, rights or causes of action a judgment debtor may have against any party would not be too far removed from the instant matter. Under such circumstances, the execution of money judgments would be left to the unfettered and unbridled discretion of judgment creditors taking any measure through ordinary process to seek recovery under the guise of a legally executed writ of fieri facias. We will not endorse the potential abuse of an artfully crafted procedural mechanism enacted by the Louisiana Legislature to provide proper redress to creditors for their monetary losses. See Johnson v. St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co., 256 La. 289, 236 So.2d 216, 218 (1970) (Fundamental and elementary principles recognize that certainty and constancy of the law are indispensable to orderly social intercourse, a sound economic climate, and a stable government.), overruled on other grounds, Jagers v. Royal Indem. Co., 276 So.2d 309 (La.1973). While we are sympathetic to the fact the plaintiff has a real and actual interest in collecting on the excess judgment rendered in her favor against Ms. Theus, her claims are not without limitation and are only enforceable within the confines of the law. The mere existence of the money judgment does not, in and of itself, afford the plaintiff the right of action to institute litigation premised on a constructive seizure of a judgment debtor's strictly personal right that would have otherwise been barred in the absence of the judgment. In sum, we find no error in the court of appeal's conclusion that an inchoate right to file suit is not subject to seizure by writ of fieri facias.