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.