Q: This question is in regards to difficulties we are having with our contractor. Can we, ourselves reply to his lawyer? Tx

A: NO! You need to retain your own attorney, who has extensive experience in handling cases involving Home Improvement Contractor cases. Very few if any Home Improvement Contractors write contracts that are in compliance with the Home Improvement Contractor's Act and therefore, almost certainly are in violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, which provides for triple damages plus attorney fees. Trying to represent yourself in Court is a bad idea. Not only are you emotionally involved, but you are not a trained attorney. You do not know the Court Rules, Rules of Evidence, case law, nor are you trained how to handle a legal case, especially if litigation is involved. However, if you do not retain counsel, and the opposing party does have counsel, you will could get slaughtered (figuratively speaking). During this pandemic, you have a choice of either seeing your attorney in person or by way of a secure state of the art Zoom Video Conference. So you don’t have to be restricted by geography anymore in terms of choosing an attorney. You can “Meet” your attorney online for an initial strategy session from the comfort of your own home. Through mail, e-mail and electronic filing almost everything can be done without leaving your home, for most types of cases. Pick the best attorney you can find and remember one rule: a good attorney is generally never cheap, and a cheap attorney is generally never good so don't choose based on price.