| Kenneth
Vercammen, Esq. handles Civil cases where the damages exceed $15,000.
Under the NJ Court Rules, all Civil Cases are sent to Arbitration
or Mediation. If the case cannot be settled at or shortly after Arbitration,
you need to prepare for trial.
APPEAL OF ARBITRATOR'S DECISION
Either party if unhappy must pay $200.00 to appeal and have a trial.
Usually insurance companies appeal to delay payment. Under Court
Rule 4:21A-6 (1), a formal Trial De Novo must be filed within 30
days of the arbitration. If you are unsatisfied with the decision
by the arbitrator, you must obtain a money order or prepare a check
for $200.00 payable to Treasurer, State of New Jersey, Court Rule
4:21A-6. A trial week is scheduled 2-3 months after the Arbitration.
Your doctors will usually require you to pay them up front for their
testimony. They will often charge you up front between $2,500.00
and $4,000.00 for testimony. On the trial week, you will have to
sit around at the courthouse for several days until a Judge becomes
available.
Trial Notice
Our Trial Notice to clients states the following:
This is to advise you that the Superior Court has scheduled a trial
in your case for:
Date: Time: Location:
You have answered interrogatories and we provided a copy of your
answers to interrogatories for your personal folder. Please carefully
review the answers to interrogatories on the day before the trial.
You should be fully familiar with the information which was supplied
by way of answers to interrogatories because many of the questions
will involve the same information. If you cannot locate your copy
of the answers to the interrogatories, please call my secretary
and we will forward to you another copy.
We suggest you visit the accident site during the week prior to
trial.
You must be present in court and prepared to proceed at that time.
You should bring all of your papers in connection with your case
to Court. Please call my secretary approximately 24 hours before
this hearing to confirm that the court has not adjourned your hearing.
If you or any witnesses will not be available during the initial
trial week, please contact us immediately. Being unavailable means
being out of state or some other unavailability. It would be helpful
if you personally speak with any witnesses to immediately confirm
that they would be available during the entire week of the trial.
Do not leave the court and go home until instructed by Mr. Vercammen
or a member of our staff.
P.S. To Doctors and Witnesses: The above is self-explanatory. If
you will not be available during the week of the trial calendar
call, please let us know. Please call my secretary and leave a telephone
number where you may be reached during the day of trial. Unless
we hear from you to the contrary, we will assume that you will be
available on telephone call and we will call you as soon as the
case is started. Please advise us as to your fee for testimony in
the above court. In addition, if you have not testified in court
in the past year, we will be willing to spend time with you, free
of charge, to help you prepare for your testimony. Please call my
office to set up a convenient time and location.
Letter to Doctors
Trial Testimony / Fee Inquiry
Dear Dr. ______________:
We thank you for providing medical records regarding my above client.
We previously wrote to your office and advised that we represent
your patient. If any amount of your bill is unpaid, kindly have
your office immediately forward a copy of the unpaid portion to
both my office and your patient.
This matter has been called in for trial on ______________ in the
Superior Court of Middlesex County. Your patient may need you to
testify as an expert on their behalf at the trial. Would you or
your staff kindly provide the information requested on the enclosed
sheet and fax back to our office. We need communicate it to your
patient.
We thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Very truly yours,
KENNETH A. VERCAMMEN
KAV/ Enc: Information Sheet, On-Call Subpoena, Courthouse Map
1) Fee to testify in Superior Court: ______________
Hourly: _______ Flat Rate: _______
2) Best days of the week and time for trial testimony: _________
3) Days of the week unavailable: ________________
4) Weeks during next month you will be out of state and not available:
_______________________________________________________
5) Can you please fax or mail us a copy of your resume?
6) Anything else important we should be made aware of: _________________________________________________________
Thank you for preparing a report on behalf of our client, NAME.
This matter has been called in for trial on _____ at _______. Would
you kindly have your secretary advise my office by fax or mail as
to your fee for testimony and your availability that week, together
with any weeks in which you will be unavailable.
We also request that if any amount of your bill is unpaid, that
your office immediately fax to us a copy of the unpaid portion so
that your office will be protected.
In accordance with New Jersey Rules of Court and to avoid inconvenience
to you, we are providing you with an "on call" subpoena.
I am also enclosing a copy of a map to the Court House.
We thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
RULE 4:25-7(b) Pretrial Exchange of Witness names, Exhibits, Interrogatory
reading, evidence, Problems and Trial Judge fact details
4:25-7. Attorney Conferences
(a) Prior to Pretrial. In cases that are to be pretried, the attorneys
shall confer before the date assigned for the pretrial conference
in order to reach agreement on as many matters as possible. (b)
Exchange of Information. Except as otherwise provided by paragraph
(d) of this rule, in cases that have not been pretried, attorneys
shall confer and, seven days prior to the initial trial date, exchange
the pretrial information as prescribed by Appendix XXIII to these
rules. At trial and prior to opening statements, the parties shall
submit to the court the following in writing: (1) copies of any
Pretrial Information Exchange materials that have been exchanged
pursuant to this rule, and any objections made thereto; and (2)
stipulations reached on contested procedural, evidentiary, and substantive
issues. In addition, in jury trials, the parties shall also exchange
and submit (1) any proposed voir dire questions, (2) a list of proposed
jury instructions pursuant to R. 1:8-7, with specific reference
either to the Model Civil Jury Charges, if applicable, or to applicable
legal authority, and (3) a proposed jury verdict form that includes
all possible verdicts the jury may return. Failure to exchange and
submit all the information required by this rule may result in sanctions
as determined by the trial judge. (c) Continuing Obligation. Attorneys
shall have the continuing obligation to report to the court any
stipulations reached during the course of the trial. (d) Waiver
of Exchange. The parties may, in writing, waive the requirement
of the exchange of information as set forth in paragraph (b) of
this rule, but such waiver shall not affect the obligation to provide
that information to the court at the commencement of trial.
Conclusion If you have a civil case where the damages exceed $15,000,
call Kenneth Vercammen & Associates 732-572-0500 for a Confidential
Appointment
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