Often people who are considering getting a divorce are not sure where to begin or what questions to ask me.

It is relatively easy for someone who feels that she is a victim of domestic violence to obtain a temporary restraining order in NJ. (While for purposes of illustration this article refers to the "victim" as a woman, that certainly is not always the case.)

If you are going to file for divorce, you should know that there are nine NJ divorce grounds.

It has often been said that 99 out of 100 NJ Divorce Cases are ultimately settled, and that only 1 out of 100 divorce cases in New Jersey actually result in a trial before a Family Court judge.

It was April of 1986.

I was interviewing with a highly respected Judge of the Superior Court, in the family part in northern New Jersey. I was applying to be His Honor's law clerk for the 1986–1987 court year.

I was extremely proud to have been selected to interview with this particular judge, who I had heard was one of the best Divorce Court judges in the state.

A very nice woman, frightened out of her mind, hired me recently.

She told me how she had been informed by an email from her husband's lawyer an hour earlier that her divorce case was scheduled for TRIAL in 2 days, gave her the address of the courthouse, but told her that she really didn't need to appear in Court.

 For the past six months I have really been trying to help a particular client, but her anxiety about sitting down and going over her financial paperwork with me had made it hard for me to help her.

A very important article appeared in the December 5, 2016 New Jersey law journal dealing with Domestic Violence restraining orders in New Jersey.

In particular, the New Jersey Supreme Court made certain administrative determinations on November 29, 2016 that will significantly impact restraining order cases in New Jersey.

This post will highlight two of those determinations.

First, the Supreme Court adopted a recommendation that "the Judiciary should explore the development of Court Rules and procedures to allow domestic violence victims, in exceptional cases, to testify without being physically present in the courtroom for final restraining order hearings."