Excusal of State Bar Association Officers and Members from Trial Dates
Trial judges should honor the request of any officer or trustee of the New Jersey State Bar Association to be excused from trial commitments on the day of a scheduled trustees' and officers' meeting, unless there is a compelling reason for the trial to go forward. There are approximately 40 trustees and officers; they meet generally ten times a year. Reasonable notice of such meetings should be given to the Assignment Judge by any trustee or officer who requires an excuse from trial commitments. Assuming such notice is given, denial of a request should be limited to extraordinary circumstances, such
as the previous scheduling of a matter involving many attorneys where it is clear that rescheduling would be inordinately difficult. The same policy applies to members of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee (which meets eight or nine times a year), and to those members of the General Council who plan to attend the annual and semi-annual New Jersey State Bar Associatio n General Council meetings, again subject to reasonable prior notice to the court.
Finally, any member of the New Jersey State Bar Association who plans to attend the Association's midyear Annual Meeting should be subject to the same excusal policy. Thus, any member of the State Bar who attends an annual meeting should be excused upon request (with reasonable notice) from trial commitments on conflicting annual meeting days (plus travel time), unless there is a compelling reason for a particular trial to proceed. See AOC Directive #9-97, a copy of which appears in the appendix.
More information can be obtained from “ A PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE TO NEW JERSEY’S CIVIL COURT PROCEDURES”
http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/civil/PractitionersGuideManualAppendicesMay2007WebPostingVersion.pdf KENNETH VERCAMMEN & ASSOCIATES, PC
ATTORNEY AT LAW
2053 Woodbridge Ave.
Edison, NJ 08817 (Phone) 732-572-0500
(Fax) 732-572-0030 Personal Injury Dept.: 732-572-0024
website: www.njpersonalinjurylawcenter.com
