Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New Jersey

Re: gardner sueing for 2 years of work. claim is bogus.

Yes to all of those.

Almost anyone can file a suit for almost anything. That's part of a free society. The real issue is whether the suit has merit. A lawyer would ask whether the suit could "survive summary judgment."

A suit must be answered in a writing that conforms to the Rules of Court. That is where a lot of defendants go wrong and then wind up on Lawguru years later wondering why a collection agency is coming after them for a claim that they think is stale. The principal is if you are sued, you must answer. If you do not answer, the court will assume that you have no answer and will likely award the plaintiff a judgment by default. That judgment can be collected for decades.

When you answer, you or your lawyer can raise defenses to what the plaintiff says in the complaint. You can also raise certain affirmative defenses (such as the running of the statute of limitations). The judge will only know that the suit is without merit if you say so in writing.

So, how do you get back at a plaintiff for bringing a suit without merit? The answer is that state statutes and rules of court permit you to raise that issue as part of your answer (or, in some cases, separately). If you don't raise the claim, you lose it.

You should defend yourself only if you are very sure of what you are doing or don't care about the result. Yes, your lawyer will charge you for this unplanned suit in the same way that your doctor would charge you for an unplanned appendectomy? Similarly, if you try to do either yourself, you will probably get the predicted result.