NASHVILLE, Tenn. and COLUMBIA, S.C. (WJHL) — Former Wood Construction Co. owner Joe Wood’s bankruptcy lawyer is in a legal tussle with the Tennessee Attorney General’s (AG) office, which is now seeking $2.1 million in restitution on behalf of 94 consumers.
The AG wants what’s called a default judgment in the lawsuit it filed against Wood last August. Wood’s bankruptcy attorney claims that shouldn’t be allowed because, until the conclusion of a bankruptcy, debtors are protected by an “automatic stay” against separate judgment. Wood filed for bankruptcy protection in South Carolina on Oct. 21, 2023, two months after the AG filed its lawsuit.
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One of Wood’s former customers who says her family lost more than $158,000 to him applauded the AG’s recent action, though Maisy Yeager added that she doesn’t expect to see any of her money and that she “would like for him to go to jail.”
A Kingsport bankruptcy attorney who helped explain the purpose of the automatic stay meanwhile called the AG’s move “fairly bold.” But Dean Greer added that when it comes to the Wood case, “everything about it has a sense of stink to it because of the way it was handled.”