5 Things to Expect or Do during a NJ Small Claims Trial (#5 of 5)

5. The Judge cannot extract money from the other side

The best you can hope for in a case is a judgment. A judgment is a helpful piece of paper because it can be used to leverage money out of someone, and theoretically it entitles you to collect a certain amount of money from other people. However, in its true form it is merely a piece of paper, and you will need to go through separate legal proceedings in order to collect on the judgment. Happy as you may be that you got a judgment (if you are a Plaintiff; if you are a Defendant you hope for a dismissal, and hope that the judge does not order a judgment against you), the process is not nearly over yet.