What was the specific finding of facts in the prior civil action that led to the judgment that the fees were improper?
Does that same fact situation apply to your case, or were the fees assessed on your account not covered under the facts of the prior case?
You can always file a dispute contesting the accuracy of the reported debt.
You can cite the civil judgment as logical support for your assertion, but prior cases dont normally become binding precedent unless or until they are affirmed on appeal, so they do not legally constitute binding case law interpretation of the statute or reg upon which the decision was based.
If the debt collector verifies the accuracy, notwithstanding your assertions and citation of the prior case, you can always then bring your own civil action and hope for the same finding by the court, provided your facts are the same as those of the prior case.
As an aside, if the debt collector has reported a collection to the CRAs, they are requried to provide the date of first delinquency to the CRA.
If that DOFD is more than 7 years plus 180 days ago, as is apparently the case if the debt was 9 years prior, then you can challenge the showing of any collection in your credit report as requiring exclusion per FCRA 605(c).
