There are two types of laws in the United States that are meant to punish individuals who commit a wrongful act or compensate victims of illegal acts. These two branches of law are known as criminal law and civil law.
A New Jersey civil litigation attorney is simply an attorney who practices civil law in civil court. Civil law is the set of laws that address behaviors of one party that cause some injury or harm to another individual or other private party.
In general, most civil law cases in New Jersey are tort cases. Although the exact definition of what constitutes a tort varies by state, the legal term “tort” in New Jersey refers to a violation in which one person inflicts damage, injury, or harm to another person.
Tort violations may occur due to the intentional actions of a party, the negligent actions or inaction of a party, or by the party violating certain laws. Once again, if a tort is committed, New Jersey law grants the victim the legal right to civilly sue the person who allegedly harmed them. This right to sue is known as a “cause of action.”
Tort laws in New Jersey include dozens of different tort causes of action, which result in numerous types of civil cases being heard. Examples of the most common types of cases heard in civil court that pertain to civil laws include:
- Cases involving the negligent actions of another person, such as car accidents;
- Cases involving the fraudulent actions of another person;
- Cases involving intentional physical torts such as civil battery or assault;
- Cases involving intentional property torts such as conversion or other theft crimes;
- Cases involving emotional torts, such as defamation, libel, slander, and/or an invasion of privacy.
New Jersey also has a special term known as “tort threshold.” Tort threshold is a term that comes into play specifically for car accident cases, wherein the plaintiff (i.e., the party that is alleging they were harmed) must demonstrate that they meet certain criteria in order to qualify for a civil lawsuit.
According to N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8a, the plaintiff’s injuries must fall into one of the following six categories of injury in order to meet the civil lawsuit threshold:
- Death;
- Dismemberment;
- Significant disfigurement or significant scarring;
- Displaced fractures;
- Loss of a fetus; or
- A permanent injury, within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement.
In addition to the above cases involving injuries to one’s person or property, the other major types of cases that make up a significant portion of New Jersey’s civil court’s caseload are cases regarding family law matters.
New Jersey civil courts also hear a variety of different civil matters, including issues surrounding:
- Visitation and custody of children;
- Advisory matters;
- Spousal maintenance or alimony;
- Child support;
- The loss of parental rights;
- Paternity and adoption;
- Child abuse and child neglect matters.
When to Hire a Civil Litigation Attorney?
Once again, when a person in New Jersey is injured or damaged in some way as a result of another party’s actions, they are legally allowed to file a civil lawsuit against the wrongdoer. A local New Jersey lawyer will be most familiar with New Jersey’s civil laws and statutes, as well as the entire civil procedure process involved in suing a party for damages.
As far as the exact time one should seek to hire an attorney, it is often in your best interests to enlist the aid of an attorney as soon as possible. An attorney will be knowledgeable on the civil laws and statutes that are involved in your particular legal issue.
They will also be able to assist you in identifying the party responsible for your damages and help you hold them responsible for their tortious actions. If your civil matter is a family matter, an attorney will be familiar with the laws and civil processes involved in pursuing those matters as well.
What to Expect from Your Civil Law Attorney?
As far as what you can expect when working with an attorney for civil lawsuits, you should expect the attorney to handle all of the major aspects of the civil lawsuit. The exact aspects of a civil lawsuit will be dependent on the type of lawsuit that you are involved in.
There are essentially four stages to almost every civil lawsuit in New Jersey:
- Pre-lawsuit Phase: During the pre-lawsuit phase, an attorney will meet with their client and attempt to first negotiate a resolution to their case without the necessity of filing a lawsuit.
- If the attorney is unable to resolve their client’s case without a lawsuit, the attorney will then assist their client in drafting the necessary lawsuit, properly serving it on the defendant, and navigating the court system;
- Pre-trial Phase: After a lawsuit has been filed, there are many different items that will need to be addressed.
- An attorney will be able to assist their client in conducting discovery, which is the formal process by which one party will serve requests upon the other party or parties involved in the lawsuit to gather information to support their civil claims.
- An attorney will also be able to represent their client at any in-person proceedings prior to a final trial, such as handling pre-trial motions;
- Trial Phase: If the case is not settled prior to trial, then a civil litigation lawyer will be able to represent their client in court in front of the judge or jury by arguing their client’s claims, questioning witnesses, and formally introducing evidence gathered in the previous stage of the lawsuit;
- Post-trial Phase: After a case has been concluded, an attorney may still be involved in the case by collecting and disbursing the funds that were recovered from the civil lawsuit.
- An attorney may also continue to represent their client if an appeal of the ruling in the case is needed.
In addition to all of the above, the main thing that you should expect of a civil attorney is that they will keep you informed of your case. This means that you should always expect your civil attorney to inform you of all of your settlement options or resolutions, as well as the current status of your case. In fact, attorneys are obligated to keep their clients informed of their cases.
How Much Does a Civil Attorney Cost?
As far as the cost of a civil attorney, the total cost of civil suit lawyers will vary widely. The costs for a civil attorney will be dependent upon a number of differing factors, including but not limited to:
- The area of law in the attorney practices;
- The areas of law that the plaintiff’s individual claim encompasses;
- The attorney’s level of experience, as well as their reputation in the industry;
- The difficulty of the case;
- The location in which the attorney practices, as different cities have different cost averages;
- The total amount of time that is spent either pursuing or defending the lawsuit.
In general, the most important factor used in calculating the total cost of a civil attorney is the amount of time that it will take to finish the case. This is because, in civil lawsuits, the contracts executed between clients and the attorney are most often hourly contracts.
In an hourly contract, an attorney will agree to take a case based on the client paying the attorney an hourly rate for work, as the work is performed. In most cases, the attorney will request an upfront “retainer” to start the case.
The retainer will be an initial payment made by the client to secure the services of the attorney, and the attorney will bill against the retainer. The attorney will then ask the client to make sure the retainer is refreshed as work is completed on the client’s case.
For example, an attorney may require an upfront retainer of $2,000. The attorney will then work the case, such as filing discovery to gather evidence, taking depositions of key witnesses, and representing their client in court for pre-trial motions or other in-person court matters.
If the attorney’s hourly fee is $200 per hour, then the retainer would be depleted after 10 hours of work on the case. As such, the client would have to replenish the retainer so the attorney could continue representing them. Thus, the most important factor in determining the total cost of a civil attorney is the amount of time needed to finish the case.
In addition to hourly fee agreements, there are other types of fee arrangements that may be entered into by a client and attorney. For instance, an attorney may decide to take your case on a contingency fee basis. In a contingency fee arrangement, the attorney will not charge you an hourly rate, but rather, the attorney will take on the costs of the suit and take a percentage of the amount of money recovered in the case.
For instance, at the end of the case if $100,000 was recovered in a settlement for the injuries suffered by the plaintiff, an attorney may take 35% of that settlement amount. In other words, $35,000 will be taken out of the settlement first in order to pay the attorney their contingency fee. Medical bills will then be paid, and then the rest of the funds, if any, would go to the plaintiff.
For simpler civil cases, such as cases where everything is agreed to by all parties involved upfront, an attorney may execute a “flat fee contract.” In flat fee contract arrangements, an attorney agrees to do a specified amount of work on a case for a one-time payment.
Do You Need a Civil Attorney?
If you are involved in a civil lawsuit in New Jersey or are seeking to file a lawsuit as a result of a legal issue that you are facing, then it is in your best interests to consult with an experienced civil litigation attorney in New Jersey.
A civil litigation attorney will be able to help you determine your best course of legal action and answer any questions that you may have regarding your particular legal issues. LegalMatch can assist you in locating an attorney for your particular legal issues.
Further, an attorney will also be knowledgeable about New Jersey’s civil laws and civil procedure. This means that the attorney will be able to represent you throughout the entire legal process, should you choose to hire them to represent you in your lawsuit. Finally, an attorney will also be able to represent your interests in court, as needed.
