WHAT IS THE NEW JERSEY SPECIAL CIVIL PART?
The New Jersey Special Civil Part is a subpart of the Superior Court of New Jersey.  In the New Jersey Special Civil Part, disputes involving a limited amount of money -- $15,000 or less – may be heard.   This article does not attempt to discuss the details of cases heard in the small claims section or landlord tenant part of the New Jersey Special Civil Part.  This article does not attempt to discuss small claims disputes or landlord tenant cases.

WHAT IS THE SMALL CLAIMS SECTION OF THE NEW JERSEY SPECIAL CIVIL PART?

Small claims is a subpart of New Jersey Special Civil Part where civil disputes involving $3,000 or less or in the case of security deposit claims, $5,000 or less – may be heard.  This article does not attempt to discuss small claims disputes or landlord tenant cases.

WHAT TYPES OF CLAIMS ARE USUALLY FILED NEW JERSEY SPECIAL CIVIL PART?

·         Contract disputes

·         Property damage disputes, such as car accidents where only property is damaged (and persons do not sustain serious personal injuries)

·         Bill collection disputes

·         Security deposit disputes

·         Disputes between consumers and merchants involving unsatisfactory goods or services

HOW DO I FILE A LAWSUIT NEW JERSEY SPECIAL CIVIL PART?

You may file a lawsuit – called a “complaint” -- New Jersey Special Civil Part by preparing a written complaint and filing it by either visiting the New Jersey Superior Courthouse or appropriate Court Finance Office in the county where you intend to file the complaint – all of which are located in the county seat of the appropriate county -- or by sending the necessary paperwork to the appropriate county office of the Superior Court of New Jersey.  You must pay a fee to file your complaint that is determined based on the number of parties you are suing, the dollar amount of the dispute and the type of trial you want.  The New Jersey Special Civil Part fees often change, so it is important that you check with the court as to the appropriate fee when you are actually ready to file your papers.  Only persons age 18 or older are able to file a complaint for themselves (minors must file a lawsuit through their parent or guardian).  There are specific rules about where to file complaints New Jersey Special Civil Part, which depend on various considerations.  Complaint forms are available at the appropriate office of the New Jersey Special Civil Part and via the worldwide web.  However, neither court forms, websites nor advice from court personnel are good substitutes for a competent attorney’s legal services.  Each case has its own particular legal issues and therefore, its own challenges.  It is extremely important that you prepare your complaint very carefully and make sure that you include in the document a detailed list of all factual and legal reasons why you may have a right to win your case, since failure to do so could cause you to lose your case.  It is very common for people to file inadequate or incorrect complaints that result in the complaints or answers to complaints being rejected by the New Jersey Special Civil Part or being dismissed by the New Jersey Special Civil Part after filing and before or after trial because of procedural deficiencies.   If you are not represented by an attorney in a special Civil Part case, you are called a “pro se litigant”.  Most complaints filed New Jersey Special Civil Part that go to trial are nonjury trials, meaning that only a judge hears the case.  For an extra fee paid only when you first file your first complaint (or paid when you file your first answer, if you are responding to the complaint), you may demand a trial by 6 jurors.  Jury trials are much more complex than nonjury trials and usually require much more preparation, including extensive paperwork.  However, a jury trial demand may result in the facts of your case being decided by a jury of ordinary people rather than by a single judge.  Even where a party requests a jury trial, the legal issues in the trial are normally decided by the judge hearing the case.

WHAT IF I AM SUED NEW JERSEY SPECIAL CIVIL PART?

If you are sued New Jersey Special Civil Part, you shall be named to a complaint or counterclaim and must file a written response to the complaint or counterclaim, called an “answer”.   Failure to do so will normally result in your being defaulted and exposes you to the risk of having a money judgment entered against you and thereafter, possibly losing money or property.  You may file an answer New Jersey Special Civil Part by preparing a written answer disputing charges made against you in the complaint or counterclaim and requesting that the New Jersey Special Civil Part dismiss the wrong charges.  If plaintiff or someone that isn’t named in the complaint owes you money or property based on the same set of facts as those in dispute in the complaint or facts related to the dispute, in addition to filing an answer, you may also be able to file a counterclaim or third party complaint to recover the money or property (discussed below).  Forms are available at the appropriate office of the New Jersey Special Civil Part and via the worldwide web.  However, neither court forms, websites nor advice from court personnel are good substitutes for a competent attorney’s legal services.  Each case has its own particular legal issues and therefore, its own challenges.  It is very common for people to file inadequate or incorrect complaints that result in the complaints or answers to complaints being rejected by the New Jersey Special Civil Part or being dismissed by the New Jersey Special Civil Part after filing and before or after trial because of procedural deficiencies.  It is important to be truthful and not to make misstatements of facts when answering complaints and counterclaims.   It is extremely important that you prepare your answer very carefully and make sure that you include in the answer a detailed list of all defenses against the complaint or counterclaim that you are responding to, since failure to do so could cause you to lose your case.  Accordingly, when you are sued, you should seriously consider hiring an attorney to prepare your response to the complaint or counterclaim, to prepare written requests for information to the party that sued you (discussed further below) and if you can afford it, to have an attorney represent you in court.  After your answer is prepared, you must file it by either visiting the New Jersey Superior Courthouse or appropriate Court Finance Office in the county where the complaint was filed – all of which are located in the county seat of the appropriate county -- or by sending the necessary paperwork to the appropriate county office of the Superior Court of New Jersey.  You must pay a fee to file your answer that is determined based on the amount of the original dispute and the type of trial you want and whether you intend to add parties to the lawsuit (discussed below).   Only persons age 18 or older are able to file an answer for themselves (minors must file an answer through their parent or guardian).   If you are not represented by an attorney in a special Civil Part case, you are called a “pro se litigant”.  Most cases filed New Jersey Special Civil Part that go to trial are nonjury trials, meaning that only a judge hears the case.  For an extra fee paid only when you first file your first answer, you may demand a trial by 6 jurors.  Jury trials are much more complex than nonjury trials and usually require much more preparation, including extensive paperwork.  However, a jury trial demand may result in the facts of your case being decided by a jury of ordinary people rather than by a single judge.  Even where a party requests a jury trial, the legal issues in the trial are normally decided by the judge hearing the case.

WHAT IF I AM SUED BUT SOMEONE OWES ME MONEY BECAUSE OF THE SITUATION THAT IS THE SUBJECT OF THE COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST ME?

If you are a defendant and plaintiff or someone that isn’t named in the complaint owes you money or property based on the same set of facts as those in dispute in the complaint or facts related to the dispute, in addition to filing an answer, you may also be able to file a counterclaim or third party complaint to recover the money or property (discussed below).  If there are valid facts and legal reasons to support it, a defendant can file their own lawsuit against a plaintiff, called a “counterclaim If you are sued and someone who is not named in the lawsuit is partially or totally responsible for the plaintiff’s damages or for damages you suffered and there are valid facts and legal reasons to support it, a defendant can file their own complaint, called a “third party complaint”.  By doing so, the defendant names parties not originally named to the complaint as additional parties to the case.  Counterclaims and third party complaints must be prepared in writing and filed with the appropriate court where the original complaint is being heard normally require extra fees above the cost of filing an answer to the original complaint.  In the case of a third party complaint, once properly filed, the New Jersey Special Civil Part normally serves it on the plaintiff.  Forms may be available at the appropriate office of the New Jersey Special Civil Part and via the worldwide web.  However, neither court forms, websites nor advice from court personnel are good substitutes for a competent attorney’s legal services.  Each case has its own particular legal issues and therefore, its own challenges.  It is very common for people to file inadequate or incorrect complaints or counterclaims that result in the complaints or answers to complaints or counterclaims being rejected by the New Jersey Special Civil Part or being dismissed by the New Jersey Special Civil Part after filing and before or after trial because of procedural deficiencies.  It is important to be truthful and not to make misstatements of facts when answering complaints and filing counterclaims and third party complaints.   It is extremely important that you prepare your answer, counterclaim or third party complaint carefully and make sure that you include in the documents a detailed list of all reasons why you may have a right to win your case, since failure to do so could cause you to lose your case.  Accordingly, when you are sued and when you want to file a counterclaim or third party complaint, you should seriously consider hiring an attorney to prepare your response to the complaint or counterclaim, to prepare written requests for information to the party that sued you (discussed further below) and if you can afford it, to have an attorney represent you in court.  After your counterclaim or third party complaint is prepared, you must file it by either visiting the New Jersey Superior Courthouse or appropriate Court Finance Office in the county where the complaint was filed – all of which are located in the county seat of the appropriate county -- or by sending the necessary paperwork to the appropriate county office of the Superior Court of New Jersey.  You must pay a fee to file the document that is determined based on the amount of the original dispute and the type of trial you want and it may also be based on whether you intend to add parties to the lawsuit.

WHAT IF I FILED A COMPLAINT AND DEFENDANT FILED A COUNTERCLAIM AGAINST ME?

If there are valid facts and legal reasons to support it, a defendant can file their own lawsuit against a plaintiff, called a “counterclaim”.  If you are named to a counterclaim, you must file a written answer to the counterclaim.  Failure to do so will normally result in your being defaulted and exposes you to the risk of having a money judgment entered against you and thereafter, possibly losing money or property.  It is possible for plaintiffs to win on their complaint only to lose on a defendant’s counterclaim.  You may file an answer New Jersey Special Civil Part by preparing a written answer disputing charges made against you in the complaint or counterclaim and requesting that the New Jersey Special Civil Part dismiss the wrong charges.  If plaintiff or someone that isn’t named in the complaint owes you money or property based on the same set of facts as those in dispute in the complaint or facts related to the dispute, in addition to filing an answer, you may also be able to file a counterclaim or third party complaint to recover the money or property (discussed below).  Forms are available at the appropriate office of the New Jersey Special Civil Part and via the worldwide web.  However, neither court forms, websites nor advice from court personnel are good substitutes for a competent attorney’s legal services.  Each case has its own particular legal issues and therefore, its own challenges.  It is very common for people to file inadequate or incorrect complaints that result in the complaints or answers to complaints being rejected by the New Jersey Special Civil Part or being dismissed by the New Jersey Special Civil Part after filing and before or after trial because of procedural deficiencies.  It is important to be truthful and not to make misstatements of facts when answering complaints and counterclaims.   It is extremely important that you prepare your answer very carefully and make sure that you include in the answer a detailed list of all defenses against the complaint or counterclaim that you are responding to, since failure to do so could cause you to lose your case.  Accordingly, when you are sued, you should seriously consider hiring an attorney to prepare your response to the complaint or counterclaim, to prepare written requests for information to the party that sued you (discussed further below) and if you can afford it, to have an attorney represent you in court.  After your answer is prepared, you must file it by either visiting the New Jersey Superior Courthouse or appropriate Court Finance Office in the county where the complaint was filed – all of which are located in the county seat of the appropriate county -- or by sending the necessary paperwork to the appropriate county office of the Superior Court of New Jersey.  You must pay a fee to file your answer that is determined based on the amount of the original dispute and the type of trial you want and whether you intend to add parties to the lawsuit (discussed below).   Only persons age 18 or older are able to file an answer for themselves (minors must file an answer through their parent or guardian).   If you are not represented by an attorney in a special Civil Part case, you are called a “pro se litigant”.  Most cases filed New Jersey Special Civil Part that go to trial are nonjury trials, meaning that only a judge hears the case.  For an extra fee paid only when you first file your first answer, you may demand a trial by 6 jurors.  Jury trials are much more complex than nonjury trials and usually require much more preparation, including extensive paperwork.  However, a jury trial demand may result in the facts of your case being decided by a jury of ordinary people rather than by a single judge.  Even where a party requests a jury trial, the legal issues in the trial are normally decided by the judge hearing the case.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE CLAIM INVOLVES A CORPORATION, PARTNERSHIP OR LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY?

The officers of corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies and the like cannot generally appear New Jersey Special Civil Part in cases involving disputes exceeding $3,000 since the corporation, partnership or limited liability company must usually be represented by an attorney.  There may be some exceptions to this rule, such as where the case involves a summary action for possession of premises.   Also, if you sue a company and the company represents itself at trial and you thereafter win the case and recover a judgment, it is possible that the company shall get the judgment overturned because they were not permitted to appear in court for themselves in the first place!

IF I AM A PLAINTIFF OR DEFENDANT NEW JERSEY SPECIAL CIVIL PART, WILL THE OTHER SIDE HAVE AN ATTORNEY?

If you are not represented by an attorney in a special Civil Part case, you are called a “pro se litigant”.  While people can and often do represent themselves New Jersey Special Civil Part court, their opponent may be represented by an attorney, which often places the unrepresented party at a major disadvantage.  If possible, hire an attorney to at least prepare any necessary court paperwork and if you can afford it, to also appear and represent you in court at any motions or trials.   The proper preparation of legal papers and preparation of a case for trial often requires knowledge of legal issues that only attorneys have.  Court rules and evidence rules are often complex and accordingly, are often difficult to follow.  Trials can be very complex and time consuming – sometimes they take all day or more than one day to complete.  People who are not attorneys licensed to practice law in New Jersey are not able to give you legal advice about special civil disputes that are heard by New Jersey courts, regardless of whether the people work for a court or work for an attorney. 

IF THE OTHER SIDE HIRES AN ATTORNEY, SHOULD I DEAL WITH THE ATTORNEY OR THEIR CLIENTS?

If a party is represented by an attorney in a special Civil Part dispute, you must generally avoid having oral or written contact regarding the case with the represented party and instead, must make all communications involving the case through the represented party’s attorney.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE COMPLAINT IS FILED?

After the complaint is filed, court staff shall serve the complaint on the defendants, usually by mailing it by certified and regular mail.  The defendant has 35 days following service of the complaint to file an answer.  The summons should state the date on which the complaint was served.  If defendant fails to file a written answer to the complaint, the clerk should automatically enter a default on the New Jersey Special Civil Part’s docket.  The New Jersey Special Civil Part normally mails the plaintiff a notice stating the date on which cases are automatically defaulted (35 days after service of the answer).  If a defendant files a written answer and pays the necessary fee, the New Jersey Special Civil Part normally sends a notice of that an answer was filed.  Once a complaint and answer are filed in the case, whenever one party sends any kind of paperwork to the court, they must generally send complete copies of the paperwork to all other parties involved in their case (or if they are represented, to the parties’ attorneys).  If a party fails to follow this procedure, they may be punished by the court for the failure and any relief they ask for and receive from the court can often be reversed for the failure.  The parties may engage in discovery – a factfinding process during which each party tries to find out more about the other party’s position.  Discovery often involves parties serving each other with written requests for information called interrogatories, notices to produce (sometimes also called requests for production of documents) and requests for admissions.  These requests are served by you and not the New Jersey Special Civil Part by mailing the documents via regular and certified mail, return receipt requested (if the other party is unrepresented) on the other parties or by regular mail only on the other parties’ attorney, if they are represented by an attorney.  However, it is often best to send all documents to any opponent by regular main and also by certified mail, return receipt requested to make sure you have proof that the documents were received by your opponent.  If either party fails to answer these requests in writing or fails to answer the requests with sufficient thoroughness, the New Jersey Special Civil Part may punish the delinquent party, such as by throwing their complaint out of court or suppressing their answer.  At some point after the complaint is filed and answered, the New Jersey Special Civil Part sends the parties a notice stating the trial date.   Failure to carefully prepare and serve thorough written requests for information could result in your losing your case, since you may be in the dark about what the other party intends to do at trial.  If a case is coming up for trial and you never received responses to your written requests for information, you may have a right to get more time from the New Jersey Special Civil Part to get the requests answered.  Discovery can be a very tricky and important part of the case and to make sure that it is conducted right, you should seriously consider hiring an attorney to prepare your written requests for information to your opponents or to other parties involved in the case or even to witnesses and if you can afford it, to have an attorney represent you in court.

WHAT HAPPENS IF DEFENDANT IS DEFAULTED?

If a defendant is automatically defaulted by the New Jersey Special Civil Part, then no trial will occur (unless the New Jersey Special Civil Part vacates the default) and the plaintiff has 6 months from the date of the entry of default to file additional paperwork with the New Jersey Special Civil Part to seek a default judgment against a defendant.  In some cases, securing a default judgment only requires the plaintiff to submit paperwork, while in other cases, the plaintiff has to prepare and file a motion and the New Jersey Special Civil Part may require the plaintiff and defendant to appear at a court hearing – a “proof hearing”.

WHAT HAPPENS IF A DEFAULT JUDGMENT IS ENTERED AGAINST YOU AND YOU IGNORE IT?

If you ignore a judgment, your bank account may be frozen and money in it turned over to the judgment holder, some of your wages may be taken from you, your personal property may be seized by the sheriff and sold to satisfy the judgment and/or a lien may be put against a house you own.  If the complaint is for money damages caused by a motor vehicle accident and the judgment requires a defendant to pay $500 or more, the defendant must pay within 60 days and if they do not, the plaintiff may file papers asking the New Jersey Special Civil Part to direct the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission to stop the defendant's driving and registration privileges until that judgment is paid.  Often people wait until their bank account is frozen or until their wages are attached to take action – at that point it is difficult and sometimes too late to do anything to successfully stop those collection efforts.  It is not uncommon to refuse to help such latecomers from taking issue with the collection efforts unless they file papers with the court for relief.  However, once a judgment is entered against you, you may ask the court to remove or “vacate” the judgment (discussed below).

DO I NEED AN EXPERT WITNESS TO PROVE MY CASE?

Often to prove one’s case or to successfully defend against a complaint, it is necessary to hire an expert witness to prepare a proper expert report and to testify regarding another party’s misconduct and the damages sustained as a result of the misconduct.  If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the factfinder at trial to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.  To be considered by the New Jersey Special Civil Part, an expert’s opinion must meet three basic requirements:   (1) the intended testimony must concern a subject matter that is beyond the knowledge of the average juror; (2) the subject testified to must be at a state of the art such that an expert’s testimony could be sufficiently reliable; and (3) the witness must have sufficient expertise to offer the intended testimony.  To meet the element of whether expert testimony is sufficiently reliable, the party offering the expert testimony must demonstrate that the expert’s opinion or theory is generally accepted within the scientific community.   An expert's opinion must be supported by facts or data either in the record or of a type usually relied upon by experts in the field.  Bare conclusions of an expert that are not supported by factual evidence are inadmissible.  Likewise, expert conclusions based on discredited or improperly performed diagnostic tools are suspect.  An expert's trial testimony is confined to the opinion reflected in his or her report.  Many expert opinions are never admitted into evidence and experts are thereby prevented from testifying at trial because the New Jersey Special Civil Part finds the reports unreliable and/or inadequate.  Therefore, simply hiring an expert does not assure that you shall get their testimony into evidence.  Professional experts usually charge a fee to inspect your property and write a report – sometimes they bill by the hour and sometimes via a flat fee arrangement linked to each service they are to perform.  The expert normally sends a copy of their report to the party who hired the expert.  If your case requires expert testimony and the matter goes all the way to trial, it shall be necessary to have the expert appear at and testify at same.  The expert usually charges additional fees for the time during which they must appear at trial but you may get the expert to include such services as part of the fee to perform inspections and to write reports.  While there are some exceptions, normally, courts do not allow people to show up at trial to introduce into evidence estimates, expert reports and other documents that they never prepared and witnesses are often necessary to prove one’s case, especially when it comes to the party’s damages.  

WHAT HAPPENS AT TRIAL?

On the day that your case goes to trial you must appear at court.  Usually, many cases are heard on the day that your case is called for trial and it is not uncommon for many people to wait in a single courtroom for their case to be called.  You must be on time to avoid losing your case!  If a plaintiff fails to appear when their case is called, the New Jersey Special Civil Part is likely to dismiss the complaint.  If a defendant fails to appear when the case is called, the New Jersey Special Civil Part shall likely enter a default.  If a default is entered, you shall have to prepare and file paperwork with the court asking the court to enter a default judgment in your favor.  If no default is entered, you must be prepared to present your case or defense.  It is not uncommon for judges to get very frustrated by an unrepresented party’s lack of preparation or ignorance of the facts or law of the case.  A court has the power to punish unprepared parties, such as by throwing their case out of court or limiting what they can present at trial.  You must bring all documents, photographs, videos and other items with you to the trial that are necessary to prove your case (preferably originals).  Even if you bring such documents and items to court, the New Jersey Special Civil Part may refuse to allow you to use them at your trial.  New Jersey has published cases, laws, regulations, court rules and rules of evidence that are very tricky and that can be used to prevent you from doing much of what you want to do at trial.  Accordingly, before trial, you must consult all of these rules to determine how you intend to get your documents and items into evidence or how to properly use them at trial.  Hearsay rules of evidence are particularly troublesome and you should study them carefully before trial.  For example, it is very common for courts to refuse to allow a party to use or refer to documents or items that the person themselves never prepared.  Often parties stumble into special Civil Part with a video, photograph, bill or affidavit or other form of written statement, thinking they are going to use it as proof that they lost money or that they are not responsible for someone else’s damages, only to have a judge tell the parties that it is not going to even consider such items or documents.  Without the proper preparation, items and documents may never be considered by the New Jersey Special Civil Part.  Also, if there are any legal issues to be dealt with at trial, you must be prepared to argue them, which may require you to refer to court rules, evidence rules, laws, regulations or published cases.  If you have any witnesses that you need to testify for you at trial, then in advance of the trial and as required by court rules, laws and published cases, you must prepare a written subpoena (or subpoenas if the case is adjourned).   Such a subpoena must normally be personally served by a process server rather than by mail.  If you want to force one of the parties to the case to testify as part of your case, since they might not show up at the trial (it is possible that only their attorney will show up), you should serve them with a notice in lieu of subpoena.  If you think that you could have problems getting someone to show up to provide testimony at trial, you should have a process server serve them with a subpoena or  if they are a party to the dispute, a notice in lieu of subpoena.  Without witnesses to testify at trial (especially experts, discussed above), you may lose your case.  Trials can be very complex and time consuming – sometimes they take all day or more than one day to complete.  Also, it is very common for trials to get adjourned because someone is not ready to present their case for a valid reason (but you can never expect that you shall automatically get an adjournment and you must always be fully ready to try your case on the date that the trial is scheduled since courts often refuse adjournment requests and dismiss cases if parties are not prepared to proceed with their case or defense on the trial date).  It is best to have your questions for any witnesses prepared in advance.  At the end of trial, the New Jersey Special Civil Part normally enters a judgment for or against you.  The New Jersey Special Civil Part may also withhold or “reserve” judgment for a later date, which normally results in the New Jersey Special Civil Part taking time to write up its reasons for its decision and mailing it to the parties’ last known addresses (or to their attorneys, if they are represented). 

WHAT IS COURT MEDIATION?

In most cases, before the trial occurs the New Jersey Special Civil Part requires the parties to mediate their dispute.  Mediation is an informal hearing normally held in a conference room.  You and the other party and any attorneys involved in the case appear at the mediation.  The mediation is conducted by a neutral court appointed mediator.  The mediator is trained in resolving disputes through the process of mediation.  Accordingly, the mediator attempts to resolve the case by suggesting a possible settlement to both parties.  During the mediation, none of the parties is required to settle the case.  Indeed, one or all of the parties may not even make any offer to settle.   Note that cases do not always undergo mediation.  If the case cannot be settled before trial and your case is called to be tried, you must be prepared to present your case or defenses.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO SETTLE MY CASE?

Parties may voluntarily agree to settle their case but preparing the proper settlement agreement requires great care.  Normally, at any trial proceeding, the New Jersey Special Civil Part has settlement forms for the parties to complete.  However, neither court forms, websites nor advice from court personnel are good substitutes for a competent attorney’s legal services.  Each case has its own particular legal issues and therefore, its own challenges.   For example, what if you don’t include protections to yourself in the agreement?   A court may refuse to enforce a settlement agreement if it is unclear what the parties agreed to.  Also, if a party fails to honor a settlement, you may have to return to court if you want to enforce the settlement, which normally requires you to file a motion.  If you can afford an attorney, it is best to have the attorney prepare the settlement agreement so that they can try to make the other parties agree to the best settlement terms for you.  If you do settle your case yourself, you should notify the New Jersey Special Civil Part as soon as possible – with a phone call and then followed up in writing.  If the case is settled before trial, you should make every effort to advise the court before the trial occurs.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I GET A JUDGMENT?

Once you get a judgment, you become a judgment creditor and you may decide to do nothing or more likely, you may decide to try to collect it.  To collect a special Civil Part judgment, special Civil Part officers may be of assistance in taking steps to collect it, but they cannot provide legal advice.  Normally, to collect on a judgment, you need to know the whereabouts of the debtor’s assets and you need to fill out paperwork to direct the court officer to try to recover the judgment from those assets.  The collection process is often difficult and if a debtor files for bankruptcy, you may never collect your judgment.  The court normally has forms available at the courthouse and on the worldwide web.  However, neither court forms, websites nor advice from court personnel are good substitutes for a competent attorney’s legal services.  Each case has its own particular legal issues and therefore, its own challenges.   If you can afford an attorney, it is best to have the attorney perform the steps necessary to collect any judgment. 

WHAT IF A DEFAULT AND/OR DEFAULT JUDGMENT IS ENTERED AGAINST YOU AND YOU STILL WANT A TRIAL?

If a default and/or default judgment was entered against you, you may seek to remove it, called “vacating the default” or “vacating the default judgment”.  To vacate either, you must normally prepare a written motion and file the motion with the New Jersey Special Civil Part asking that the default and/or default judgment be vacated.   The court normally has forms available at the courthouse and on the worldwide web.  However, neither court forms, websites nor advice from court personnel are good substitutes for a competent attorney’s legal services.  Each case has its own particular legal issues and therefore, its own challenges.   If you can afford an attorney, it is best to have the attorney perform the steps necessary to prepare the proper motion.  If you ignore the default, it may lead to the entry of a judgment against you.  If you ignore a judgment, your bank account may be frozen and money in it turned over to the judgment holder, some of your wages may be taken from you, your personal property may be seized by the sheriff and sold to satisfy the judgment and/or a lien may be put against a house you own.  If the complaint is for money damages caused by a motor vehicle accident and the judgment requires a defendant to pay $500 or more, the defendant must pay within 60 days and if they do not, the plaintiff may file papers asking the New Jersey Special Civil Part to direct the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission to stop the defendant's driving and registration privileges until that judgment is paid.

TAKING APPEALS -- WHAT IF I LOSE MY TRIAL OR THE COURT REFUSES TO VACATE A DEFAULT JUDGMENT?

If you are a plaintiff and you lose a New Jersey Special Civil Part case, it could mean the dismissal of your lawsuit forever and it could prevent you from ever recovering money damages against a defendant who you believe owes you money.  If you are a defendant and you lose a New Jersey Special Civil Part case, it could mean the entry of a money judgment against you and the beginning of the plaintiff’s efforts to collect the judgment from you by freezing your bank accounts, attaching your wages, putting a lien on your home and forcing you to answer detailed questions about your finances.  If you disagree with the court’s decision about a summary judgment motion, you may file papers for the court to reconsider its decision – called a motion for reconsideration.  In some cases, the motion for reconsideration must be made in 20 days from the date of the court’s order deciding the summary judgment motion.  If the New Jersey Special Civil Part’s decision in your case is final, you may also appeal the case to a higher court -- the Appellate Division of the Superior Court.  There are very strict deadlines for filing appeals.   To appeal a final judgment that resolves all issues in the case, you may file a notice of appeal and other required documents with the Appellate Division within 45 days from the date of judgment and pay a fee to the Appellate Division – special Civil Part appeals are not heard by the New Jersey Special Civil Part and you should not try to file appellate papers with the New Jersey Special Civil Part!   As part of your appeal, you usually must also prepare a written court transcript request and order a court transcript from the appropriate court that decided the matter against you and pay a fee for it.  Appeals are some of the most complex proceedings in the court system.  The court normally has forms available on the worldwide web.  However, neither court forms, websites nor advice from court personnel are good substitutes for a competent attorney’s legal services.  Each case has its own particular legal issues and therefore, its own challenges.   If you can afford an attorney, it is best to have the attorney perform the steps necessary to take an appeal.  Appeals from orders or judgments that are not final are called “interlocutory appeals” and the procedure for such appeals is somewhat different than those for appeals from final judgments or orders.

CAN I HANDLE A SPECIAL CIVIL PART CASE MYSELF?

Many people can and do successfully handle special Civil Part cases, from filing the first paperwork to the collection of a judgment.  However, many other people also make mistakes that lead to the dismissal of their cases or that result in the entry of a money judgment against them.  The greater the money at stake, the greater the reason to consider using the services of a competent attorney licensed to practice law in New Jersey to handle part or all of the case.  The following are reasons to use an attorney to handle part or all of your case:

·         New Jersey Special Civil Part fees often change

·         New Jersey Special Civil Part rules often change

·         New Jersey Special Civil Part employees cannot give you “free” legal advice and a judge may refuse to let you claim that you were right in taking an action (or in deciding not to take action) because you relied on advice from such employees

·         New Jersey Special Civil Part court forms available on websites may not cover every situation you may face in court

·         each New Jersey Special Civil Part case has its own particular legal issues and therefore, its own challenges

·         it is very common for people to file inadequate or incorrect complaints that result in the complaints or answers to complaints being rejected by the New Jersey Special Civil Part or being dismissed by the New Jersey Special Civil Part after filing and before or after trial because of procedural deficiencies.  

·         it is not uncommon for judges to get very frustrated by an unrepresented party’s lack of preparation or ignorance of the facts or law of the case. 

·         a court has the power to punish unprepared parties, such as by throwing their case out of court or limiting what they can present at trial. 

·         New Jersey has many published cases, laws, regulations, court rules and rules of evidence that can be very tricky to understand and that can be used to prevent you from doing much of what you want to do at trial. 

·         it is very common for courts to refuse to allow a party to use or refer to documents or items at trial that the person themselves never prepared.  Often parties stumble into New Jersey Special Civil Part with a video, photograph, bill or affidavit or other form of written statement, thinking they are going to use it as proof that they lost money or that they are not responsible for someone else’s damages, only to have a judge tell the parties that it is not going to even consider such items or documents. 

·         without the proper preparation, items and documents may never be considered by the New Jersey Special Civil Part.  Also, if there are any legal issues to be dealt with at trial, you must be prepared to argue them, which may require you to refer to court rules, evidence rules, laws, regulations or published cases. 

·         you cannot show up at the New Jersey Special Civil Part expecting the judge hearing your case to explain court rules, evidence rules, court procedure or the details of the law that applies to your case.  The judge hearing your case is not permitted to give you legal advice.

It is important to remember that even if you have an attorney, you could lose your case.  Hiring an attorney to handle part or all of your case does not guarantee your success.  However, it may provide what is needed to win your case or to avoid certain mistakes.

DOES THE LAW OFFICE OF PAUL DEPETRIS HAVE EXPERIENCE HANDLING SPECIAL CIVIL PART CASES?

Yes.  Paul DePetris has performed the following tasks:

·         handled cases for plaintiffs and defendants New Jersey Special Civil Part cases across New Jersey, from Bergen County to Cumberland County, including representations of individuals, small businesses and large corporations.

·         prepared and filed many Special Civil Part complaints

·         tried nonjury trials New Jersey Special Civil Part

·         tried jury trials New Jersey Special Civil Part

·         mediated many special New Jersey Special Civil Part cases

·         served as a voluntary court mediator for the New Jersey Special Civil Part, Burlington County, where he successfully assisted parties to lawsuits to settle their cases before they went to trial

·         argued motions New Jersey Special Civil Part

·         handled New Jersey Special Civil Part proof hearings

·         handled New Jersey Special Civil Part post judgment collection proceedings

Mr. DePetris has appeared before the Superior Court of New Jersey in the following counties:

Mr. DePetris has also appeared in federal courts - the District of New Jersey in Camden, Trenton and Newark and in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Mr. DePetris is also the author of the following publications:  New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act & Forms (New Jersey Law Journal Books, 2007); Learned Professionals, Licensed Semiprofessionals and the Consumer Fraud Act:  The Origins of the Licensed Professionals’ Doctrine (New Jersey Lawyer, Oct. 2008); and Liability For Consumer Fraud In Real Estate Transactions (New Jersey Law Journal, March 18, 2009).   Mr. DePetris also gives seminars on the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.

WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO HIRE AN ATTORNEY TO HANDLE MY CASE FROM BEGINNING TO END?

In many situations, the Law Office of Paul DePetris offers alternatives to handling special Civil Part cases for an hourly fee, such as by offering to prepare the court paperwork for you or helping you handle your claim by yourself.  Such flexible methods may allow you to keep the amount legal fees you spend on your case to a fixed sum, while providing you the help you need to handle your case.  For a no cost phone consultation about what the Firm might be able to do for you, call or write an email to Mr. DePetris at consumerlaw@newjerseylemon.com.