Q: Do i (plaintiff) have to reply to an answer from the defendant citing to 4:5-2 ?
I filed a lawsuit in the Special Civil Part for 17k against Ford and a Ford dealership. Only Ford's lawyer has filed an answer. The answer denies the allegations and states 5 sepparate defenses as well as a demand for statement of damages within 5 days pursuant to 4:5-2. Do I have to reply? Also-what happens if the dealership does not answer?
A: You need to retain an experienced New Jersey civil litigation attorney. 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 could get slaughtered (figuratively speaking).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. With modern technology, you can be represented by any high-quality attorney in New Jersey irrespective of geography.
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