Does this let him off the hook?
Not "completely off the hook"...
However, there does seem to be some conflicting information with regards to the impacts on various kinds of judgments depending on which law firm's website you look at.
(of course, it looks like it varies from state to state in some instances as well)
When it comes to debt and bankruptcy, Freedom Law Firm is your best source of information. Read our post 'Discharging Debts Involving Willful Injury' here.
www.freedomlegalteam.com
If you have committed an intentional tort and cannot afford to pay the debt, in some cases bankruptcy can discharge the debt, or can provide you time to pay the debt under court supervision over three to five years. Bankruptcy can also shield your assets and wages for a time while you repay what you can afford.
Other law firms like this one
Can a debtor discharge a debt arising out of a deliberate or intentional act that causes injury to you? A recent article addressed the general issue o...
www.wardandsmith.com
Give a much murkier description and shares some case examples and various loopholes and caveats to the whole process.
I think in this case, the most obvious answer is the likely one...which is, it sounds like he was already having money troubles. And money is somewhat fungible...
This is likely being done as a way for him discharge other debts not relating to this case to free up additional moneys for him to make payments on this one should his appeal fail.
IE:
"I, as a debtor owe $10,000 a month to this other creditor
"Now, this new thing happened and I have to come up $10,000 a month to pay these ladies"
"I'll file bankruptcy to discharge debt A so I can put it toward debt B and not change my current monthly bottom line or standard of living"
It should also be noted that "on the hook" doesn't mean Rudy will be out on the streets begging for change or living in a dingy little apartment contemplating his life choices anytime soon.
This is a good parallel case to consider
Alex Jones lost his case and the Sandy Hook families were awarded a collective $1+ Billion dollars from him back in mid-late 2022. He filed for bankruptcy pretty quickly afterwards, had some crafty accountants move some assets around.
They're still going to court trying to get their money while he's still sitting on millions of dollars in cash assets, $3 million worth of real-estate investments, and a upper six figure contract working for Steven Crowder's new "Mug Club" streaming service.
Per CBS (on Dec. 16th)
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' latest bankruptcy plan would pay Sandy Hook families a minimum total of $55 million over 10 years, a fraction of the $1.5 billion awarded to the relatives in lawsuits against him for calling the 2012 Newtown school shooting a hoax.
(meanwhile, the family's attys are filing a motion to try to get the courts to make him liquidate his assets)
If the ratios are in anyway similar...
That would mean that 16 months from now, we'll hear that "in accordance to the latest bankruptcy plan, Rudy has to pay the women $5.2 million over a period of 10 years" (while they'd have to pay lawyers to file a motion for asset liquidation, or find a good-hearted lawyer who was willing to do it for free)
I know it's not the "comfortable" "feel good ending" answer people want to hear...but I think it's important to set reasonable expectations with regards to what the end result could be.
The reality is that these women (who were wronged, and put through something none of us would want to go through) may get "stiffed on the bill" so to speak and could end up going years before even seeing a dime.
