Because I am a judgment broker, I have a very unique expertise and perspective on many topics related to judgments, judgment recovery, contingency collection lawyers, judgment training providers, and judgment recovery associations and organizations.
This article is about the National Judgment Network (NJN, www.NationalJudgment.net), started in 1998 by Mr. Claude Dickerson. Claude is a well-known expert in many fields, including computers, networks, databases, web site design, programming, judgment enforcement, online forums, and is a very well-respected author.
I was a satisfied member of the NJN for many years. I found they saw me as a competitor and snubbed me, so I have not been to their web site in years. The NJN informs and supports judgment enforcers nationwide, with a one-time price of $149. That price includes:
1) A fantastic (although poorly moderated) judgment discussion forum. Update for 2012, the forum now has auto-moderation so many experienced JEs post much less often as any jealous JE can complain about them anonymously and get them banned.
2) A great judgment recovery book (available as a PDF download) that covers all fifty states.
3) Judgment-related form letters, that can be customized for your state and needs.
4) A free (PC-based) judgment database software program, as well as the only low cost (cloud-based) online judgment database.
5) Many links, special offers, and features.
The NJN has thousands of members and is constantly improving. The NJN forum has posts (messages) that go back to 1998, although old messages are archived.
For a long time, the NJN forum was moderated by Steve Halket, however Steve passed away in July 2010. After a string of moderators, it moved to an auto-moderation mode.
The NJN’s forum currently has more registered members than any other judgment forum. Like most judgment-related forums and lists, activity is down because of reasons including the economy.
Judgment recovery is a business that depends more on what one studies and does, rather than what college degree they got. There are no “actual” judgment recovery certifications or degrees one can get. However, the NJN has a good certificate program where members (who pass a rigorous online test) can display certifications on web sites to show their NJN state and/or national certification levels.
The NJN also provides a free, basic web page and email address for every member. That free web page (or any member’s web site) may be searched at their enforcemyjudgment.com web site, for judgment owners that wish to search for a judgment enforcer. Of course JudgmentBuy makes this obsolete.
The NJN is a training provider for judgment enforcers nationwide, and like most training providers advertising tends to be a bit too optimistic on how judgment enforcement is a recession-proof way to earn big money quickly. Because all training providers tend to be over-optimistic, this is ok.
The NJN is national, with good support for every state. The NJN has many tutorials, a judgment interest calculator known as a golden reference that attorneys and courts use daily. The calculator is free to NJN members, and available at a nominal charge to the public.