EDAG Engineering GmbH v. BYTON North America Corporation
- Edward Chen
- 3:21-cv-04736
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 4
In EDAG Engineering GmbH v. BYTON North America Corporation, Judge Chen ordered BNA representatives to answer questions about its property and debts.
EDAG Engineering GmbH may seek information to enforce its judgment, and BYTON North America Corporation must designate a knowledgeable representative for examination and comply with the service and appearance requirements.
What happened
EDAG Engineering GmbH had a judgment for approximately $30 million against BYTON North America Corporation and asked the court to require an examination to help enforce it.
The court found that EDAG met the requirements for an examination under federal and California procedures. BNA had not been examined during the previous 120 days and did not respond to the application by the stated deadline.
Judge Chen granted EDAG’s application. BNA must designate knowledgeable officers, directors, managing agents, or other people to appear before a magistrate judge and answer questions about BNA’s property and debts; EDAG must personally serve the order at least 10 days before the examination.
The detailed version
- EDAG Engineering GmbH v. BYTON North America Corporation · No. 3:21-cv-04736
- Edward Chen
- Jan. 10, 2022
Background
EDAG Engineering GmbH was the judgment creditor, and BYTON North America Corporation (BNA) was the judgment debtor. On December 13, 2021, the court entered a judgment against BNA in EDAG’s favor for approximately $30,000,000. EDAG then filed an application for an order requiring BNA to appear for a judgment-debtor examination. The examination was intended to help EDAG identify and locate BNA’s assets and enforce the money judgment. BNA did not file a response by January 7, 2022.
Legal standard
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 69(a) governs enforcement of money judgments in federal court. It allows judgment creditors to obtain discovery from the judgment debtor or other persons under the federal rules or the procedure of the state where the court is located. The court therefore applied California Code of Civil Procedure sections 708.110, 708.150, and 708.160.
Under those provisions, a judgment creditor may obtain an order requiring the judgment debtor to appear and provide information that will aid enforcement of the judgment. When the judgment debtor is a corporation, the corporation must designate one or more officers, directors, managing agents, or other people familiar with its property and debts to appear and be examined. The court stated that EDAG had not caused BNA to be examined during the preceding 120 days, so the application satisfied the requirements for an order based on an application without advance notice.
Ruling
The court GRANTED EDAG’s application. It ordered BNA to designate one or more knowledgeable officers, directors, or managing agents and to appear personally for a debtor’s examination before a magistrate judge to be assigned by the court. The examination will occur at a time, date, and place set by that magistrate judge, and the designated representative must answer questions about BNA’s property and debts to provide information aiding enforcement of the money judgment.
The court also ordered EDAG to personally serve the order on BNA at least 10 days before the examination and file a certificate of service. The order disposed of Docket No. 70.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.