Slow down.

This decision is a big one.

If you are going to select a divorce lawyer online, then you'd better know what to look for.

You need to learn this.

Read the following.

Slowly!

This is no time for speed reading.

As a Monmouth County divorce lawyer who has done nothing but divorce work for over 36 years, I recommend that you inquire into the following 10 areas to help you find your great divorce attorney:

The reality is that there is no legal process in New Jersey for a simple marital separation.

A new client recently hired me and asked me to "serve" divorce papers on his wife that same day.

I explained to him that his request would be very difficult, and probably impossible, to do.

His request made me realize that there is confusion about what it means to serve divorce papers in New Jersey.

Let me explain.

Before divorce papers can be "served," they must first be created and then filed with the Court.

Divorce proceedings in NJ begin with your lawyer preparing your divorce complaint.  

The complaint states your NJ Grounds for Divorce. It gives the judge the reasons that you are asking for a divorce (most of the time the reasons given are "irreconciliable differences," but not always.)

Once the divorce complaint has been prepared by your lawyer, it is sent to the county courthouse to be filed (that is, received by a courthouse employee and stamped with the word "filed," and assigned a case number known as a docket number.)

By having a docket number assigned to it, there is now a place to file your papers at the county courthouse. It's kind of like having a locker at the local beach club... you know, a place to store your stuff... well, maybe not exactly the same, but you get the idea.

The divorce complaint, now bearing that all important court-assigned case number, (i.e. the docket number) is then returned to your lawyer so that he can arrange for proper "service" upon your spouse, who is now known as the defendant.

"Why won't the other divorce attorney negotiate?"

Are there unanswered questions in your divorce case?  

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

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.

What is a motion? A motion is simply a request of a judge for something.

There is a bad practice in many law firms where the "rainmaker" lawyer (usually the oldest lawyer in the group) brings in most of the business but has young associates, fresh out of law school, do most of the work on the client files.

It's time.

You know that it's time.

Everything and everyone tells you that it's time.