Is this lawsuit worthwhile to pursue?

I have a good case against someone who owes me a few hundred thousand dollars. I was under the impression that he was well off, and I know he owns a few hundred thousand dollars of stock in a RE corp. However, a credit check reveals that he has numerous judgements, including default bank mortgages and deficiency judgements, as well as unpaid legal fees, hundreds of thousands in credit card debts, etc. going back several years. If I win the suit, will his other creditors have to be paid first before I get to collect any of my awarded money? It seems as if his previous debts are much more than what I may be awarded. Case is in NY state.

Not worth it. In the general pecking order, you are at the end of the line with an unsecured debt. The secured debtors are first, then child support, alimony, student loans, IRS etc.
Let's say for discussion purposes you do spend $20K on legal fees, take him to court and win a judgement for $250K after 2 years of collection activity. He can just file BK and discharge the debt and your judgement is not worth toilet paper.

[Edited by HomeGuru on 03-23-2001 at 10:34 PM]

My response:

Is his nickname "Skip" ?

IAAL