Calendar for New Jersey Civil Motion Dates

Each year the New Jersey Supreme Court puts out a calendar with civil motion return dates, which are normally two Fridays each month. Ideally, they are set during the first and third weeks of the month but the dates can vary because of holiday court closings.

As a general rule, the filing deadline to start a motion usually falls three Wednesdays before the motion return date and the response date is normally two Thursdays before the return date. However, the Superior Court of New Jersey is very lenient when a motion response is filed late. In addition, motions for summary judgment, family court and post-trial motions have different deadlines. The respondent in a summary judgment motion will be given at least 28 days before the motion return date. Post-trial motions must be filed within 20 days of the judgment or verdict. Family Court motions also do not have set calendar dates. Lastly, the dates for oral arguments and responses can be altered for a particular case at the judge’s discretion.

Every personal injury and wrongful death lawsuit filed in New Jersey moves through a series of scheduled court appearances and filing deadlines that collectively shape the pace and direction of the case. These are New Jersey motion dates, and missing one, misunderstanding the court’s expectations around one, or arriving unprepared for one can have consequences that outlast the error itself. At Monaco Law PC, Joseph Monaco has spent more than 30 years managing civil litigation in Burlington County, Camden County, Atlantic County, and Cumberland County, and that experience makes a measurable difference when these dates arrive.

What Motion Practice Actually Looks Like in New Jersey Civil Courts

A motion is a formal request that one side makes to the court, asking a judge to issue a ruling on a specific issue before trial is held. Motion dates are the scheduled appearances or submission deadlines tied to those requests. In New Jersey Superior Court, most motions in civil cases are decided on a papers-only basis, which means the judge reads the written submissions from both sides and issues a decision without oral argument unless the court specifically schedules it or a party requests it and the court grants the request.

The schedule that governs this process is not arbitrary. New Jersey Court Rules set precise intervals between filing a motion, serving the opposing party, submitting opposition papers, and submitting any reply. The return date, which is the date the motion is technically “heard” by the court, anchors the whole sequence. Motions in the Law Division, where most personal injury cases are filed, are typically scheduled on specific motion days that each vicinage, meaning each county’s court system, sets for its own calendar. Burlington County, Camden County, Atlantic County, and Cumberland County each handle their motion calendars according to local practices that differ from one another in timing and in how judges communicate their decisions.

The Motions That Arise Most Often in Injury and Wrongful Death Litigation

Understanding why motion dates matter requires knowing what kinds of motions actually get filed in serious personal injury cases. Not every lawsuit proceeds through a clean, uninterrupted path to settlement or verdict. Disputes arise over discovery, over the admissibility of expert testimony, over whether a case should be dismissed before trial, and over many other procedural and substantive issues. Each of those disputes tends to generate at least one motion.

• Motions to dismiss filed early in a case, often challenging whether the complaint states a viable claim under New Jersey law
• Discovery motions seeking to compel production of accident reports, surveillance footage, maintenance records, or medical documentation that a defendant has refused to provide
• Motions to bar or limit expert witnesses under the standards New Jersey courts apply to expert testimony in negligence and product liability cases
• Summary judgment motions filed by defendants arguing that the plaintiff cannot establish liability even with all evidence viewed in the plaintiff’s favor
• Motions in limine filed close to trial to exclude specific evidence or testimony from reaching the jury

Each of these motion types carries its own briefing requirements, its own page limits, and its own standards that govern how a judge will evaluate the arguments. A motion for summary judgment in a negligence case, for example, requires the moving party to demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact. That is a different standard than the one governing a motion to compel discovery, and the written arguments have to be tailored accordingly. Filing the right arguments on the right schedule is not a mechanical task. It requires knowing the law, knowing the specific judge’s preferences, and anticipating where the opposing side will push back.

How Missing or Mishandling a Motion Date Affects the Case

New Jersey courts do not treat missed motion deadlines as minor administrative inconveniences. A motion filed without adequate notice to the opposing party may be adjourned or stricken from the calendar entirely. Opposition papers filed after the deadline may not be considered, which in practice means the court rules on the motion based only on what the moving party submitted. In a case where the motion at issue is a defense motion for summary judgment, failing to file timely opposition could mean the court grants the motion and dismisses the case before it ever reaches a jury.

Adjournments of motion dates are available but require either consent from the opposing party or an application to the court with a showing of good cause. In the Superior Court vicinages that serve South Jersey, including Burlington and Camden, judges maintain active calendars and do not grant adjournments as a matter of course. An attorney who relies on assumptions rather than the actual procedural rules is creating unnecessary risk for the client at a stage of the case where precision is exactly what’s needed.

There is also a strategic dimension to motion practice that goes beyond simply meeting deadlines. The timing of certain motions, the choice of whether to file a particular motion or hold that argument for trial, and the way legal arguments are framed in the written brief all carry weight. A well-argued opposition to a summary judgment motion does more than just survive the immediate ruling. It can narrow the issues that go to trial, preserve arguments for appeal if necessary, and signal to the defense that the case is being litigated seriously.

Questions About Motion Dates That Come Up Most Often

How far in advance must a motion be filed in New Jersey Superior Court?

For most civil motions in the Law Division, the moving party must file and serve the motion at least sixteen days before the scheduled return date. Responsive papers are due eight days before the return date, and any reply from the original moving party is due four days before. These intervals are set by the New Jersey Court Rules and apply uniformly across the state, though local practices in each vicinage can affect how calendars are scheduled.

Can a motion date be moved if both sides agree?

Yes. If both parties consent to an adjournment, the motion can typically be rescheduled without a formal application to the court, subject to the court’s own calendar requirements and any scheduling order in place. In cases governed by a Case Management Order, adjournments that affect other deadlines in the order may require court approval regardless of party consent.

What happens if the court decides a motion without oral argument?

Most civil motions in New Jersey are decided on the papers alone. The judge reads the submissions, applies the applicable legal standard, and issues a written decision. A party who believes oral argument is necessary can request it, but the court has discretion to deny that request. When oral argument is granted, both sides have an opportunity to appear before the judge and address questions, but the written briefs remain the foundation of the ruling.

Do motion dates affect the overall trial schedule?

They can, particularly if contested motions generate multiple rounds of briefing or if a significant ruling, such as a decision on summary judgment, substantially changes what claims remain in the case. Courts in Burlington County, Camden County, Atlantic County, and Cumberland County schedule trial dates based on projected case readiness, and motion practice that extends into the pre-trial period can affect where a case lands on the trial calendar.

What is a motion in limine and when does it get filed?

A motion in limine is a pre-trial motion asking the court to rule in advance on what evidence or testimony will or will not be permitted at trial. These motions are typically filed in the weeks leading up to trial and are decided at a pre-trial conference or in the days immediately before jury selection begins. In personal injury cases, they are frequently used to exclude prejudicial evidence, challenge medical expert qualifications, or limit testimony that falls outside the scope of what was disclosed during discovery.

Are there different motion procedures for cases involving catastrophic injuries or wrongful death?

The procedural rules that govern motion practice are the same across case types. However, the substantive content of the motions, and the volume of motion practice involved, tends to be greater in cases involving serious injuries, fatalities, or significant damages. These cases typically involve more experts, more contested evidence issues, and more intensive pre-trial litigation overall.

What should I expect my attorney to be doing between major motion dates?

Substantive preparation. The period between scheduled motion dates is when depositions are taken, expert reports are obtained, discovery responses are analyzed, and the legal research supporting upcoming filings is developed. The motion date itself is the visible event, but the quality of what gets filed on that date depends entirely on what happens in the weeks and months before it.

Joseph Monaco, Wrongful Death and Personal Injury Lawyer

I, Joseph Monaco, have been practicing law in New Jersey for over 30 years. As a result, I am very familiar with New Jersey motion rules as a wrongful death and personal injury lawyer. The best thing about filing a motion in New Jersey is that every county follows the same rules. This is unlike Pennsylvania, where every county has its own set of local motion rules including the formats for the various motions that may be filed.

If you or a loved one have been wrongfully injured or killed as a result of someone else’s fault, call or text me at 609-277-3166 for a Free Consultation.