USA – NEW YORK Trends and Developments Contributed by: Alex Loomis and Gregg Badichek, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP
international banks in New York. The case held that judgment creditors are entitled to informa - tion that would aid in judgment enforcement worldwide, not just in New York. It also held that foreign states do not have sovereign immunity from post-judgment discovery. Judgment debtors can face significant risks if they fail to comply with their discovery obliga - tions. In AT&T Mobility Holdings B.V. v Grupo Salinas Telecom, S.A. De C.V., No. 650330/2020, 2024 WL 4711246 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Nov 07, 2024), for example, the judgment creditor had sought discovery from the judgment debtors regarding potential alter egos. After the judgment debt - ors refused to comply, the court held them in contempt and issued an adverse inference that several of their affiliates were their alter egos. Creditor’s Remedies: Execution And Turnover Once judgment enters and a creditor has found the assets it wishes to attach, New York offers extensive creditor remedies to execute and turn over assets to satisfy the judgment. Sometimes that is as simple as directing the defendant to turn over all assets in his or her possession, subject to certain statutory exemptions for prop - erty essential to living, like clothing and heating equipment, and memorabilia, like a wedding ring or watch. Freeman v Giuliani, No. 24-MC-00353 (LJL), 2024 WL 4546883 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 22, 2024), shows how this works in practice, with the court ruling that much of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s property was too expensive to qualify for these exemptions. Freeman also appointed a receiver to auction off much of Mr Giuliani’s property, a common device designed to aid collection of cash to satisfy a money judgment.
In addition to seizing personal items and appoint - ing receivers to auction off property, New York also allows a court to direct the judgment debtor to pay the judgment creditor according to an installment plan. Hamway v Sutton, 228 N.Y.S.3d 440 (1st Dep’t 2025), clarified that courts have full discretion under this provision to order the judgment debtor to pay whatever funds from an income stream the judgment debtor can afford. Intangible property interests, like stock in a com - pany, may also be seized by judgment creditors. In Webber v Dash, No. 19-CV-610 (RWL), 2024 WL 564482 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 13, 2024), for exam - ple, the court held that record executive Damon Dash’s stock ownership in Roc-A-Fella Records could be seized, even though the corporation restricted him from selling his stock without board consent. Such restrictions on the sale of stock were contrary to public policy, the court ruled, and therefore the stock could be seized by a genuine creditor. Cross-Border Enforcement: Global Reach of New York Remedies Asset recovery also often entails seizing intan - gible property interests and property rights abroad. A New York court will order collection of the property regardless of where it is located, so long as it has personal jurisdiction over the proper garnishee. That makes New York reme - dies potentially global in scope, covering assets located abroad so long as the garnishee of those assets is subject to personal jurisdiction in New York. The global reach of New York’s creditor reme - dies came up in Attestor Master Value Fund LP v Argentina, 113 F.4th 220 (2d Cir. 2024), cert. denied, No. 24-668, 2025 WL 299527 (U.S. Jan. 27, 2025). There, the Second Circuit held that a New York court had jurisdiction to turn over
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