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Bandler v. Maurice6/21/2002
governing the Special Civil Part limit the costs of instituting and trying actions, abbreviate time 8 periods, and restrict discovery. . . . Those devices control costs and promote the expeditions disposition of actions. Andriola, supra, 93 N.J. Super. at 201. They are perfect vehicles for litigation of actions that do not involve large sums of money. [Lettenmaier, supra, 162 N.J. at 143-44.] Importation of the offer of judgment rule into special civil practice would defeat the purpose of the Special Civil Part and its rules, as expressed in Lettenmaier, by creating, within the procedures of a court designed to afford prompt and effective relief to persons appearing, in the main, without legal representation, a costly trap for those unfamiliar with the potential consequences of nonacceptance of a reasonable judgment offer. We note that the offer of judgment rule has, as its salutary purpose, the encouragement of early settlement of both liquidated and unliquidated claims. However, because of the streamlined procedures that exist in the Special Civil Part and the expeditious disposition of actions filed there, the objective of "early" settlement, so significant in Law Division actions, has little relevance in this context. Moreover, as a result of the dangers we perceive as existing if the offer of judgment rule is utilized in an unlawyered setting, we regard the goal of pretrial resolution to be better effected in the Special Civil Part by the employment of other available mediation and settlement devices.
The grant of summary judgment in defendant's favor on Count Four of plaintiff's complaint is affirmed. The courts' dismissals of Counts One, Two and Three are reversed, and the matter is remanded to the Special Civil Part for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
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