Chief Justice Rabner has issued an order which approves amendments to the NJ Court Rules effective 9-1-09.  The changes to the Court Rules can be found here: Amendments to the NJ Court Rules

Some of the rules pertaining to the Court Mediation Program have been modified.  They include:

• Provisions for the mediator to recoup any unpaid fees and costs due to a party’s failure to pay.
• More detailed rules for admitting family economic mediators to the roster.
• Formalized procedures for assigning family cases to economic mediation.
• Allowing mediation statements to be submitted to the mediator on an ex-parte basis.
• Applying Appendix XXVI to family economic mediations.
• Giving mediators the authority to apportion the mediator’s fee among the parties.
• Placing responsibility on counsel to facilitate prompt payment of the mediator’s fees.