NJSBA Family Law Section

 View Only

  • 1.  Ethics - Personal Injury award & CS judgment

    Posted 09-03-2013 05:04 PM
    Quick question....

    Client is about to receive award in Personal Injury case of $25,000 or so.
    Client owes roughly $36,000 in child support arrears.

    Is it ethical for attorney to call the obligee and work out a deal wherein $10,000 is paid (recipient being happy to get it in a lump sum rather than $25 per week) without mentioning that $25,000+ is about to come in?



    -------------------------------------------
    David Perry Davis, Esq.
    112 West Franklin Avenue
    Pennington, NJ 08534
    Voice: 609-737-2222
    Fax: 609-737-3222
    -------------------------------------------


  • 2.  RE:Ethics - Personal Injury award & CS judgment

    Posted 09-03-2013 05:16 PM
    My experience has been that your client's PI attorney will be required to perform a child support judgment search and provide the results to the insurer before they will issue the PI settlement check.  Your client's PI attorney is then required under the law to submit the client's net proceeds to Probation necessary to satisfy the judgment before any money will be released to the client. 

    Based upon the numbers you provided, it does not sound like your client is not going to get any money from his PI case. He will get most of his support arrears cleared up though.

    And yes, I believe it is unethical (or at least borderline) to contact a (pro se) obligee and attempt to work out a different arrangement without disclosing what the law requires.

    -------------------------------------------
    Blake Rush Esq.
    Easton PA
    (610)258-4003

    -------------------------------------------






    Original Message


  • 3.  RE:Ethics - Personal Injury award & CS judgment

    Posted 09-03-2013 05:25 PM
    Actually, the statute allows the client to keep $2,000.

    As to whether it's ethical to offer the deal with the ex, knowing that the money is coming in, I would contact the ethics hotline.

    -------------------------------------------
    Robert Goldstein Esq.
    Manalapan NJ
    (732)972-1600

    -------------------------------------------






    Original Message


  • 4.  RE:Ethics - Personal Injury award & CS judgment

    Posted 09-03-2013 06:02 PM
    Not only is this the "practice," it is a statutory requirement of the PI attorney to act as Blake has laid out - so as well as an ethics issue, it would be a violation of the statute for the attorney not to conduct the search and pay the child support judgment.  I believe the citation is NJSA 2A:17-56.23b.  It also covers inheritances and any civil litigation settlement.  It does require "net proceeds" be paid - over $2,000 - to apply to payment of a judgment. Read the statute - it has some other requirements and exclusions.

    -------------------------------------------
    Debra Guston Esq.
    Glen Rock NJ
    (201)447-6660

    -------------------------------------------






    Original Message


  • 5.  RE:Ethics - Personal Injury award & CS judgment

    Posted 09-03-2013 08:21 PM

    I assume that the situation facing David has presented itself because there is no judgment in place.  Rather, it is a situation where the arrearages exist without having been reduced to a judgment.  I currently have a similar situation and it serves to highlight the need to advise client's to seek a judgment when the arrearages accrue.  Sometimes, being litigious is the best way to protect the client.
    -------------------------------------------
    T. Sandberg Durst Esq.
    Princeton NJ
    (609)436-9079

    -------------------------------------------






    Original Message


  • 6.  RE:Ethics - Personal Injury award & CS judgment

    Posted 09-03-2013 10:05 PM
    Sandy: That's not it. The obligor has a personal injury settlement about to be paid. The statute requires his attorney to perform a search to determine if there are child support arrears owed by the obligor. The search shows arrears, which appears as a judgment. The issue is whether the attorney, knowing the above, can try to settle the arrears with the obligee, which would put more money in his client's pocket. ------------------------------------------- Robert Goldstein Esq. Manalapan NJ (732)972-1600 -------------------------------------------
    Original Message


  • 7.  RE:Ethics - Personal Injury award & CS judgment

    Posted 09-03-2013 05:45 PM

    You don't owe a duty to the obligee and therefore an ethics charge probably can't be filed against you.  
    Having said that, I wouldn't want to place that call to the obligee. 
    Can you get your client to work out that deal?
    -------------------------------------------
    Lisa M. Radell, Esq.
    207 South Main Street
    Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
    Phone (609) 465-9910
    Fax (609) 465-9920
    E-Mail [email protected]
    -------------------------------------------






    Original Message