Our judicial and trial systems have been designed over the last 250 years to fairly and equitably adjudicate disputes between parties to a disagreement, to eliminate surprise at the time of trial, to ensure a public record of the airing of grievances and provide an avenue of appeal if mistakes are made. Trial by jury is enshrined in our justice system and the laws of our country from the U.S. Bill of Rights, in the Sixth and Seventh Amendments, to Article One, Section 9 of the New Jersey State Constitution; nonetheless, our judicial system is constantly under scrutiny and in the process of improvement through the development of the common law, rules and legislation. 

As important and fundamental as the right to trial by jury is, it is generally recognized that mediation is faster and less expensive. Moreover, in New Jersey, whether your dispute is pending in federal or state court, you have a decent chance of getting a mediator you want, or at least trust, due to the large numbers of mediators on the court lists and now advertising their services in the legal press.