Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex in Trenton. Credit: Google

New case filings in New Jersey trial courts declined significantly in the first four months of 2020 when compared with the same period in 2019.

Overall, new cases filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey from Jan. 1 to April 30 this year declined by 20.5% from a year ago. Criminal filings saw the biggest change, with a 34.1% decline. Family court filings dropped 26.5%, and civil filings fell 16.1% in the first four months of 2020.

The dramatic decline coincides with sweeping changes to the legal system brought on by the  COVID-19 pandemic.

Previous filing data from the New Jersey courts show a general decline in filings but at a far more modest rate than seen in the early part of 2020. Full-year filing data for 2019 show a one-year decline of 1.9% over 2018′s filing levels, on top of a 2.3% decline between 2017 and 2018.

But halfway through the reporting period, in March and April, the COVID-19 pandemic began to have an impact on the state's legal system.

On March 12, all new jury trials were suspended until further notice. On March 21, Gov. Phil Murphy ordered many nonessential businesses to shut down and directed other businesses, including law firms, to allow employees to work from home whenever possible. By April 9, the state courts rolled out a new Judiciary Electronic Document Submission system, allowing attorneys and self-represented litigants to submit filings electronically in most areas of the Family and Special Civil parts, as well as in General Equity.

Judges have also been holding proceedings remotely to keep cases moving forward.

In the Criminal Division, post-indictment filings, which account for the majority of cases, are off by 34.3% in the first four months of 2020. Appeals from municipal court fell by 30.5% and petitions for post-conviction relief dropped 22.2%.

Matthew S. Adams/courtesy photo

Criminal filings are experiencing a big drop because COVID-19 makes it impossible for grand juries to meet, said Matthew Adams, a criminal defense lawyer at Fox Rothschild in Morristown.

The judiciary has begun a pilot program to conduct grand juries remotely, with jurors following along from home via Zoom. But defense lawyers don't like that idea because the accused typically is not in the same location as his or her defense lawyer, Adams said.

"I don't think there is a clear solution in the near future," he said.

In the Family Division, filings from January through April declined 26.5% from the same period a year earlier. Filings in the dissolution category, which includes divorces and child custody cases involving married parents, declined 24.4%, while filings in the nondissolution category, which pertains to disputes involving unmarried couples, fell 33.4%. Cases concerning termination of parental rights fell 29% and domestic violence cases fell 14.2%.

Jeralyn Lawrence, who heads a five-lawyer family law practice in Watchung, was not surprised to see the data showing reduced filings. Her own practice, she said, has remained busy with old cases but went through a period when few new cases came in.

Lawrence says she believes parties contemplating a divorce are putting off that decision amid the pandemic, in part because shelter-in-place precautions put privacy at a premium.

"I've had clients call from the car while driving to the supermarket to pick up groceries," Lawrence said. "It was hard to have privacy and communicate with lawyers when the pandemic hit."

In addition, Lawrence said many would-be clients seem to have wrongly assumed that courts are closed because of the pandemic. To the contrary, family courts in New Jersey have largely continued to move proceedings during the pandemic, she said.

"Courts are handling all types of matters and continue to handle all types of matters," Lawrence said.

One change in the way that family law is practiced, which could be behind the reduction in filings, is that lawyers seem to be focusing on settlements before filing their cases, instead of filing first and then trying to work out resolutions.

"I think that can be a very welcome change. It's a better way to approach a case. If that becomes one of the changes that stays, post-pandemic, it would be a benefit to the practice," Lawrence said.

Joseph Russell Jr., chairman of the Family Law Department at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer in Woodbridge, also said that too much time together during the pandemic is causing some people to hold off on filing for divorce.

"Families have now been quarantined together for nearly three months," Russell said. "I have consulted with many men and women during the quarantine. Most of them have indicated the desire to wait until the economy opens up and the government mandates are lifted before they proceed with a divorce or family law matter. A divorce or family law matter under normal circumstances is difficult and emotionally draining—let alone during a time when you are locked in at home together without an outlet."

In the Civil Division, filings overall from January through April declined 16.1% in 2020 when compared with 2019. Filings in Special Civil Part declined 17.9%, while General Equity and Civil each dropped 8% and Probate filings fell 6.6%.