C and L were partners in a building materials trading business in China. Beginning in 2019, L moved large sums out of the company's accounts and C's personal accounts, through loans and payments for goods he said he had advanced. He then relocated to Los Angeles. C sued in China and won at both the trial and appellate levels. The judgment became final in June 2024, ordering L to repay principal and interest of about RMB 60 million, more than $8 million. Nothing could be enforced in China, because L's assets had already been transferred out. C had someone check, and found that L owned a primary residence in Los Angeles County, and that two more properties were registered to his sister and her husband.

• A Chinese judgment cannot be used directly to place liens in the U.S. It first had to be recognized by a California court.
• L claimed the first-instance judgment had been served by publication and that he never received notice.
• The judgment included a double-interest penalty for late performance, about RMB 2 million, which the other side tried to use.

• We filed suit in January 2025 to have the Chinese judgment recognized in California, seven months after it became final.
• L's argument about notice did not hold. He had signed a power of attorney authorizing a Chinese lawyer to appear, and he personally filed the appeal. We translated and certified the power of attorney, the trial transcript and his appellate brief for the court. A person who appealed on his own could not say he was unaware of the case.
• We chose not to pursue the late-payment double interest, which removed the other side's argument.
• The judgment was recognized in July 2025 without a hearing, and L did not appeal. We recorded the judgment in Los Angeles County the same month, and a lien attached to his primary residence right away. In September the court ordered him to appear and disclose assets. He admitted on the record that the down payments on his sister's two properties came from money he had transferred out of China. We then sued his sister and her husband to unwind the transfers and placed a lis pendens on both properties. Their tax records showed incomes that could not have supported those down payments, and in March 2026 they agreed to settle.

Date	Milestone
June 2024	Chinese appellate judgment became final, ordering L to repay about RMB 60 million
January 2025	Lingtu Law filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking recognition of the Chinese judgment
July 2025	Court recognized the judgment without a hearing; judgment recorded in Los Angeles County the same month
September 2025	Court ordered L to appear and disclose assets; suit filed against his sister and her husband to unwind the property transfers, with a lis pendens recorded on the properties
March 2026	Sister and husband settled; both properties listed for sale
June 2026	Both properties transferred; sale proceeds delivered to C through escrow
September 2026	Primary residence sold at a sheriff's auction; about $7 million recovered in total

The two properties closed in June, and the proceeds went to C through escrow. The primary residence was sold at a sheriff's auction in September 2026, after the court approved the sale. Over one year and eight months, about $7 million was recovered, more than 80% of the judgment.