The New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics is seeking volunteers for the state’s 17 fee arbitration districts.
“The fee arbitration process helps litigants and attorneys resolve disputes over legal fees without going to court. This binding arbitration program is conducted by impartial fee arbitration committees composed of volunteer attorneys. The process is fair, inexpensive, and generally quicker than litigation,” is how the Administrative Office of the Courts describes the fee arbitration program.
Volunteer attorneys are essential to the effort and officials are currently recruiting attorneys, as well as lay people, who wish to be considered for service on one of the committees for the 2023-2024 term.
The statewide system has 17 districts, which are divided by county, generally. Volunteers who are selected receive an appointment to a four-year term from the New Jersey Supreme Court.
There will be need in every district for the upcoming cycle, officials said. The following districts have an even greater need:
• District I (Atlantic, Camden Cumberland and Salem counties)
• District IIB (Bergen County- South)
• District VII (Mercer County)
• District VIII (Middlesex)
• District X (Morris and Sussex Counties)
The OAE has an easy-to-use volunteer application that can be submitted online, via email or through the physical mail. To access the application, click here.
The New Jersey State Bar Association’s Putting Lawyers Task Force recently released a report that looked at the ethics and fee arbitration systems that specifically noted the important role volunteers play in those systems.