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Bergen County Superior Court 10 Main Street Mailing Address:
**For transcripts of case proceedings, please call Transcripts at (201) 527-2277 Civil Division Management:
LAW DIVISION: CIVIL PART Civil Intake Civil Case Processing Office is responsible for processing of all civil complaints filed in the Superior Court. These cases pertain to situations that seek monetary compensation in most cases. Some types of cases that are filed in the law division range from, but are not limited to:
For a complete list of types of cases handled by the Civil Law Division, refer to the second page of the Case Information Statement (CIS). After an initial pleading gets filed, the case will be assigned a docket number. These cases are also categorized into tracks based upon complexity and anticipated discovery requirements. After the case has been processed, it will then be forwarded and handled by the appropriate team in the Case Management office. *For More Information on Civil Division Forms, Fees, and Rules, Please Visit the NJ Judiciary Website at: Civil Case Management The Civil Case Management Office handles the development and movement of the civil cases from complaint to disposition. This office handles all activities performed during document processing, case management, scheduling and disposition of cases filed with the Civil Part. The Management Office is comprised of four teams, in which each team is assigned to a set of designated judges and assists in their coordination of calendars and case management needs. CDR Programs (Arbitration/Mediation) Complementary Dispute Resolution or “CDR” is a collection of strategies or methods for resolving legal disputes without the time and expense ordinarily associated with trials and the traditional trial court process. Without sacrificing quality, court-sponsored CDR programs in Civil Division offer many benefits: reduced time to disposition; streamlined and less costly discovery; improved communication or essential issues; and participation of litigants in the resolution of their dispute. The CDR programs offered in the Civil Division are the following:
Non-Binding Arbitration – In a non-binding arbitration, the dispute is submitted to experienced, knowledgeable, neutral attorneys or retired judges to hear arguments, review evidence and render a non-binding decision. Any party has the right to reject the award and demand a trial. The arbitration award, if accepted by the parties and confirmed by the court, can be made into a legally binding and enforceable judgment. Because it is less formal and less complex than a trial, arbitration can often be concluded more quickly than other formal court proceedings. Furthermore, since non-binding arbitration is mandatory for certain types of cases, the arbitration staff will screen, schedule, and will notify the parties accordingly. Mediation – In mediation, an impartial third party, the mediator, facilitates negotiations among the parties to help them reach a mutually acceptable settlement. A mediator does not make a decision; the parties with the assistance of their attorneys, if applicable, work toward a solution with which they are comfortable. The mediator has 90 days to conclude the hearing from date of referral. The first three hours of the mediation session is provided at no cost. Any additional time is at a rate agreed upon by the parties and the mediator. Cases that are not resolved through mediation can be referred to other CDR programs or trial. *For More Information on CDR Programs, Please Visit the NJ Judiciary Website at: Mass Tort The definition of a mass tort in New Jersey derives from an identification of certain common characteristics. Each group of cases designated as a mass tort do exhibit if not all, of the following characteristics: Large numbers of claims associated with a single product; mass disasters; and complex environmental cases and toxic torts. Mass torts are governed by Rule 4:38A and are subject to different procedure for their designation. Separate complaints are brought by separate, allegedly injured parties and those matters if designated as a mass tort by the Supreme Court, will be coordinated and handled by a single judge. The processing and management of mass torts in Bergen County is handled by the Mass Tort Team. *For information on the current Mass Tort Litigations in the State of New Jersey, please visit the Judiciary’s Mass Tort Website at: Civil Part- Law Division Records The Law Division Records part is responsible for maintaining files on all civil (Law Division cases only) cases. They also locate and distribute files for staff and to the public for review, and accommodate requests for copies of files or information in case files. The Law Division Records part also handles the archiving and retention of older court records. SPECIAL CIVIL PART The Special Civil Part of the Law Division is a court of limited jurisdiction in which you may sue someone to collect an amount of money up to $15,000. It’s made up of three sections: Special Civil, Small Claims and Landlord/Tenant. Some types of claims that may be filed in the Special Civil Part include, but are not limited to, breach of a written contract, return of money used as a down payment, property damage caused by a motor vehicle accident, payments for work performed, return of tenant’s security deposit. To file a complaint in any of the three sections of the Special Civil part you may obtain a complaint form from the Clerk of the Special Civil Part or on-line. A pro-se complaint packet with accompanying instructions is also available from the clerk’s office or on-line. There is also a fee associated with a complaint which must be paid at the time of filing. Forms and fees are both available on-line at http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/forms.htm#civil. A Special Civil Part complaint is filed in the county in which at least one defendant resides or a defendant business is located. Anyone can file a complaint in the Special Civil part if they are over the age of 18. If the person suing is under the age of 18, the claim must be filed by a parent of guardian. Cases filed in Special Civil of the Special Civil Part are usually resolved more quickly then cases filed in the Civil Part and most times without a jury (the option of a jury exists, but requires an additional $50.). After the complaint is filed, and served upon the defendant, they have 35 days from the date of service to file an answer with the Clerk of the court. If the defendant responds within the 35 days, a trail date will be scheduled and all parties will be notified. If you don’t formally respond to the complaint in writing within the number of days listed on the summons, a default will be entered against you. Through a judgment by default, the court decides the amount of money, if any, to award to the plaintiff because you did not answer the complaint in time. Small Claims is another section of the Superior Court’s Special Civil Part. Small claims handles cases in which the demand does not exceed $3000 or $5000 if the demand is for the return of a tenant’s security deposit. After the complaint is filed, and served upon the defendant, all parties will be notified of the trial date by the court. While in Special Civil an answer is required, one is not in Small Claims. However, if you have been named as a defendant in a case and you believe the plaintiff (the person who filed the complaint) owes you money, you may file a counterclaim. You would file a counterclaim the same way you would file a complaint (outlined above), but be sure to file it before the date the case is listed for trial, on the summons. If the defendant does not appear for trial, the plaintiff will have a default entered by the court. The court may decide on the day of trial the amount of money, if any, to be awarded to the plaintiff. That is called a judgment by default. The Landlord/Tenant section of the Special Civil Part is reserved for the resolution of differences between property owners and those that rent or lease that property. Complaints usually arise out of the following: failure to pay rent, continued disorderly conduct, destruction or damage to property caused willingly or by gross negligence, habitual lateness in paying rent, violation of the rules and regulations after written notice to comply or tenants conviction for a drug offense. After filing a complaint, as the landlord, you must come to court, on the date the case is scheduled to be heard, and prove that the statements made in the complaint are true. As the tenant, you too must come to court, on your assigned date, and defend the case being made against you. Both parties are expected to bring any witnesses needed to prove their side of the case. The court encourages the landlord and tenant to settle their case prior to an actual trial. If the case cannot be settled, there will be trial and the judge will either grant or deny judgment for possession to the landlord. If the landlord does not appear, the case will be dismissed. If the landlord appears but the tenant does not, the case will be defaulted in favor of the landlord. A default judgment is a judgment entered on behalf of a plaintiff when the defendant defaults or fails to appear for a proceeding. Once you have been awarded a judgment in the Special Civil Part you should contact the person that owes you the money (the judgment debtor) to discuss payment. If you are unable to collect that way, there are four different ways to collect through the court: an execution on goods and chattels (personal property), a bank levy, an execution against wages or a docketed judgment. The court cannot levy on SSI, welfare, Social Security, veteran or unemployment benefits. Once you apply and the court issues a writ of execution on goods and chattels or wages, it is assigned to a Special Civil Part Officer for collection. By law there is a 10% fee added to the amount of the judgment as the Court Officer’s commission. The fee is listed on the writ and is payable as the judgment is collected. Once a writ is issued the payment should be made directly to the Court Officer or the court and not directly to you as the creditor. The Officer or court handle the bookkeeping, deduct the commission, and send the balance to you. After a writ is returned by the Officer marked fully satisfied the Clerk of the Special Civil Part will enter the satisfaction in the record. After a levy is made by the Court Officer there is a chance the debtor may contact you to discuss settlement options. Even if a settlement is reached the Court Officer is still entitled to his 10% because he has made a valid levy or helped in the production of payment in some way. Any partial or full payment made directly to you is subject to the commission that must be paid to the Court Officer, An execution on goods and chattels provides help from the court to collect money owed to you. It’s your responsibility to identify the debtor’s personal property that can be used to satisfy your judgment. You can then ask a court officer to try and sell personal items at a public sale. The debtor may keep up to $1,000 worth of personal property. If the debtor does not have $1,000 in personal property you must use another method to satisfy your judgment and collect the money owed to you. The fee for this procedure is $5.00 plus an applicable mileage charge (http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/civil/forms/10537.pdf). The Clerk or Court Officer will inform you of any additional fees to advertise and sell the property when and if this occurs. If you know that a debtor has a savings or a checking account in New Jersey and you can find out where, you may ask a Court Officer to collect your debt from the money in that account. This is known as a bank levy. You are responsible for supplying the name of the bank, the address and the account number- as Court Officers cannot search for bank accounts. Once the money has been levied by the Court Officer, it is considered frozen. At that point you are responsible for filing a Motion to Turn Over Funds with the court. You must also serve a copy on the debtor and the bank. If the court grants your motion, the judge will sign an Order to Turn Over Funds. The order will then be delivered to the bank by the Court Officer. The fee for this procedure is $5.00 plus mileage for each trip to the bank (http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/civil/forms/10537.pdf). You may also request an execution against a person’s wages if the debtor works in New Jersey and earns more then $217.50 per week. To request a wage execution, you must send a Notice of Application for Wage Execution to the debtor by regular and certified mail. A copy of the application and proof of how you mailed the application, to the debtor, must then be filed with the Clerk of the Special Civil Part in the county in which the case was heard. The debtor may file an objection to the wage execution. If an objection is filed, a hearing will then be scheduled by the court. If the debtor does not object, or the court does not accept the objection, an order for wage execution will be issued and the execution will be delivered to the debtor’s employer by the Court Officer. The employer will then hold back a portion of the debtor’s pay in accordance with the signed order. The money will then be sent to the Court Officer who will in turn send the money to you. The fee for this procedure is $5.00 plus mileage (http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/civil/forms/10537.pdf) for the trip to the debtor’s employer. If you or a Court Officer are unable to collect the money due to you, you may have the judgment from the Special Civil Part recorded in the Superior Court Clerk’s Office in Trenton. Once the judgment is recorded in the Superior Court, the debtor cannot sell with clear title any real estate owned in New Jersey until your debt is paid. To have your judgment recorded you must request a Statement for Docketing from the Clerk of the Special Civil Part in the county where your case was heard. The statement for docketing must be filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court located at: Hughes Justice Complex JEFIS The JEFIS (http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/jefis/) program allows attorneys to electronically file all pleadings over the internet. It is currently for Special Civil Cases of the "DC" docket type only. At this time, you must be an attorney in order to participate in the JEFIS program. Chancery- General Equity General Equity (the civil section of the Chancery Division) is a self-managed department which handles cases of such an unusual nature that they all proceed before a judge, without a jury, for direct interpretation of the law. Typical cases handled by General Equity are: civil rights, employment discrimination, foreclosures, injunctions, specific performance of contracts, and labor disputes. These are cases that are primarily seeking “equitable” relief as opposed to cases where a party seeks monetary damages. Foreclosure Mediation The New Jersey Judiciary has set up a program to assist certain homeowner s who have been served with a foreclosure complaint. The program is available to all qualifying homeowners whether or not they file an answer to the foreclosure complaint. For additional information on the Foreclosure Mediation program, please click on the link below. GLOSSARY OF TERMS ABRITRATION: a pre-settlement program where a case is heard by an impartial person to solve a dispute, who is vested with the power to make a determination concerning the issues of the controversy. ANSWER: the principal pleading on the part of the defendant in response to plaintiff’s complaint; it must contain a denial of all the allegations of plaintiff’s complaint which the defendant wishes to controvert. CHATTLES: any tangible, movable thing; personal property. COMPLAINT: in a civil action, the first pleading of the plaintiff setting out the facts on which the claim for relief is based. COUNTERCLAIM: a counter demand made by defendant against the plaintiff. It’s not an answer or denial of plaintiff’s allegations, but rather asserts an independent cause of action. DEBTORS: one who has the obligation of paying a debt. DEFAULT JUDGMENT: a judgment entered on behalf of a plaintiff when the defendant defaults or fails to appear for a proceeding. DEFENDANT: the party responding to the complaint. JURISDICTION: the power to hear and determine a case. JURY: a group of people summoned and sworn to decide on the facts of issues at a trail. JURY TRIAL: the trial of an issue of fact before a jury. LANDLORD: one who leases property. LEVY (or Levied): to raise or collect; to seize NON-JURY TRIAL: a trial heard without a jury. MEDIATION: a method of settling disputes outside of the court room setting. PLAINTIFF: the one who initially brings the law suit and files the complaint. PRO-SE: to appear on one’s own behalf; to represent yourself. PRO-SE PACKET: a packet of information, including forms and instructions, available for people who wish to represent themselves without the help of an attorney. TENANT: one who holds land by any kind of title or right, whether permanent or temporary. TRIAL: a judicial examination of issues between parties, whether the issues are of law or of fact, before a court that has jurisdiction over that cause. WRIT OF EXECUTION: a routine court order by which the court attempts to enforce the judgment that has been granted a plaintiff by authorizing an officer to levy on the property belonging to the judgment debtor, which is located within the county. |
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