NCJ Number
81542
Date Published
Unknown
Length
0 pages
Annotation
In this videotaped segment of the conference, a committee report is made on small claims courts (district courts), and the arguments for a proposal of the medical malpractice committee are presented.
Abstract
New Jersey district courts have a limited jurisdiction ($3,000 maximum) and litigate civil matters that include landlord-tenant disputes. It is noted that recent reforms in the law make it ever harder for landlords to evict indigent tenants who have nowhere to go. A review of rules applicable to district courts has resulted in a recommendation to raise the jurisdiction of the small claims division to $1,000. This proposal is opposed by the committee on the grounds that it may cause litigants to seek the services of an attorney, leaving pro se litigants at a disadvantage. The proposal advocated by the medical malpractice committee is to streamline the pretrial procedures of medical malpractice suits to make it feasible to settle the suits before trial. The proposal is for a panel consisting of a judge, a lawyer, and a doctor to hear every malpractice case. Only those cases in which the panel was not unanimous would proceed to trial by jury. The procedure would apply to doctors, hospitals, and others who become involved in medical malpractice suits. Use of the procedure can be later expanded to other areas such as legal malpractice. The dissenting committee opinion concerns the advisability in court of the findings of the panel. For other conference sessions, see NCJ 81541 and 81543-45.