Defense by Affidavit/Certification
Program We Go to Court in Piscataway and nearby courts if You Live Out of
Area or unable to Appear for Court
Our office helps
people with traffic/ municipal court tickets. We provide representation on most
Central New Jersey traffic cases. Motor vehicle violations and criminal charges
can cost you. If you plead guilty by mail for almost all traffic tickets, in
addition to fines you will later receive points on your driver’s license. Both
the DMV and your car insurance company will impose surcharges and eligibility
points for three years.
If you live out of New Jersey or will be
traveling outside of New Jersey, contact our Law Office regarding us providing
representation under the Defense by Affidavit Rule.
Under the New Jersey Court Rules, a New
Jersey Attorney can negotiate with the Municipal Court Prosecutor to attempt to
reduce points, obtain dismissal of some tickets and provide other assistance.
By reducing points and penalties you can reduce increases in your car insurance
and surcharges.
An accumulation of too many points, or
certain moving violations may require you to pay expensive surcharges to the
N.J. Division of Motor Vehicles or have your license suspended. Don’t give up!
We can appear in court for you on most Central New Jersey traffic violations.
The following are tickets we have handled
without our clients having to appear because they were not available. Our
attorneys can appear on your behalf without you having to go to court on the
following matters:
The
following are MVC points for NJ Motor Vehicle violations.
VIOLATION POINTS
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27:23-29 Moving against traffic-NJ
Tpke., Garden State Pkwy. and Atlantic City Expressway
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2
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27:23-29 Improper passing-NJ Tpke., Garden State
Pkwy. and Atlantic City Expressway
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4
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27:23-29 Unlawful use of median strip-NJ Tpke.,
Garden State Pkwy. and Atlantic City Expressway
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2
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39:3-29 Operating Constructor vehicle in excess of
30 mph
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3
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39:4-14.3 Operating motorized bicycle on restricted
highway
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2
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39:4-14.3d More than 1 person on a motorized
bicycle.
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2
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39:4-35 Failure to yield to pedestrian in crosswalk
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2
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39:4-36 Failure to yield to pedestrian or passing a
vehicle yielding to pedestrian in crosswalk
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2
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39:4-41 Driving through safety zone.
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2
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39:4-52 Racing on Highway
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5
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39:4-55 Improper action or omission on grades and
curves
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2
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39:4-57 Failure to observe directions of officer.
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2
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39:4-66 Failure to stop before crossing sidewalk
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2
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39:4-66.1 Failure to yield to pedestrians or
vehicles while entering or leaving highway
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2
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39:4-66.2 Driving on private property to avoid
traffic signal or stop sign
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2
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39:4-71 Improper driving on sidewalk
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2
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39:4-80 Failure to obey direction of officer
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2
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39:4-81 Failure to observe traffic signal
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2
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39:4-82 Failure to keep right
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2
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39:4-82.1 Improper operating of vehicle on divided
highway or divider
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2
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39:4-83 Failure to keep right at intersection
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2
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39:4-84 Failure to pass right of vehicle proceeding
in opposite direction
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5
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39:4-85 Improper passing on right or off roadway
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4
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39:4-85.1 Wrong way on one-way street
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2
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39:4-86 Improper passing, in "No Passing"
zone
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4
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39:4-87 Failure to yield to overtake vehicle
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2
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39:4-88 Failure to observe traffic lanes
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2
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39:4-89 Tailgating
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5
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39:4-90 Failure to yield at intersection
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2
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39:4-90.1 Failure to use proper entrances to limited
access highway
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2
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39:4-91 Failure to yield to emergency vehicle
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2
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39:4-97 Careless driving
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2
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39:4-97a Destruction of agricultural or recreational
property
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2
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39:4–91–92 Failure to yield to emergency vehicles 2
39:4-96 Reckless driving 5
39:4-97.2 3rd offense 4 points
39:4-97.1 Slow speed blocking traffic
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39:4-98 or Speeding up to 14mph above limit
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2
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39:4-99 Speeding 15-29 mph above limit
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4
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Speeding 30 mph or more above limit
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5
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39:4-105 Failure to stop at traffic light
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2
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39:4-115 Improper turn at traffic light
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3
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39:4-119 Failure to stop at flashing red signal
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2
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39:4-122 Failure to stop for police whistle
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2
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39:4-123 Improper right or left turn
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3
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39:4-124 Improper turn: from approved turning course
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3
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39:4-125 Improper u-turn
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3
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39:4-126 Failure to give proper signal
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2
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39:4-127 Improper backing or turn in street
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2
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39:4-127.1 Improper crossing of railroad grade
crossing
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2
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39:4-127.2 Improper crossing of bridge
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2
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39:4-128 Improper crossing of railroad grade
crossing by certain vehicles
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2
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39:4-128.1 Improper passing of school bus
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5
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39:4-128.4 Improper passing of frozen dessert truck
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4
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39:4-129 Leaving scene of accident- No injuries
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2
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39:4-129 Personal Injury
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8
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39:4-144 Failure to observe of stop or yield signs
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2
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39:5D-4 Moving violation out-of-state
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2
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KENNETH VERCAMMEN & ASSOCIATES, PC
ATTORNEY AT LAW
2053
Woodbridge Ave.
Edison,
NJ 08817
732-572-0500
www.njlaws.com
copyright Vercammen Law 2016
Please call us
immediately if you need experienced legal representation in a traffic/municipal
court matter. Kenneth Vercammen, Esq. Former Prosecutor for the Cranbury
Municipal Court from 1991-1999, and Author Municipal Court Winning Strategies.
Upon request, we
provide all potential clients with :
1. Our Written
Agreement to Provide Municipal Court Legal Services 2. Municipal Court
Information Sheet
We request all potential
clients fill out the Municipal Court Information Sheet and return to our office
immediately. You also need to fax or mail us: 1. Copies of the ticket and any
hearing notice. 2. A check or money order. You can also pay by Visa, Master
Charge or American Express over the phone and by fax. You should keep the
Agreement to Provide Legal Services for your records. Once we receive the fee
paid we will prepare a Letter of Representation to the Court, Prosecutor and
you. We recommend our clients meet with us once prior to the court date.
After we are
retained [paid], we will draft the Defense by Affidavit for our client. The
Affidavit will need: 1 - Municipal Court Name 2 - Traffic Ticket Summons # 3 -
Statute 4 - Name of Offense 5 - Defendants Address
In our detailed
Court Affidavit, the client will need to indicate to the court the following:
It would be an undue hardship for me to appear in person for trial. I
understand my right to a reasonable postponement and waive my right to be
present at the trial. I understand that if I plead NOT GUILTY, the judge will
hear the testimony of the complainant or other witnesses. If I plead GUILTY,
the judge may hear such testimony. I agree to abide by the judgment of the
court. I understand that if convicted, for other than a parking offense, a
record of same will be sent to the Division of Motor Vehicles, which issued my
license.
Our client
authorizes us to enter a plea to a lower point violation. Our Law Office will
prepare the Defense by Affidavit and mail it to our client.
Our clients must
read the Defense by Affidavit carefully. If you need to make any changes, make
the changes in ink on the form directly. You must immediately sign in front of
a notary and return it to our office. If the hearing date is less than 10 days
away, we recommend you send the signed Affidavit by Federal Express or UPS.
CALL THE COURT AFTER
THE HEARING DATE
On the day of the
court session or next morning, you should call the court directly to determine
the specific reduced charge and the total fine and cost. You should also ask
the court who your check should be made payable to and the address for mailing.
Do not call our office since we do not have complete details on fines and
addresses. You must pay the complete fines within 5 days. Fees. Fees can be
paid by VISA, Master Card, American Express, check, money order or cash. Make
checks payable to Kenneth Vercammen PC.
Representation/ What
We will do for you in Defense by Affidavit Case. We will review and research
necessary statutes and caselaw, contact the prosecutor, prepare defenses and
determine mitigating factors.
1. Telephone
consultation with client; 2. Office consultation with client, if requested; 3.
Offer sound legal advice to client, plus access to our legal info website
njlaws.com 4. Preparation of letter of representation to Municipal Court; 5.
Preparation of letter of representation to Municipal Court Prosecutor; 6.
Preparation of statement to provide legal services; 7. Copies of all
correspondence to Court and Prosecutor to client; 8. Opening of file. If client
comes to our office, they may have a free client case folder, Municipal Court
brochure, DMV points brochure, and Website brochure; 9. Review of necessary
statutes and case law; 10. Draft Defense by Affidavit Pleading 11. Mail or fax
Defense by Affidavit Pleading to client 12. Miscellaneous correspondence,
preparation and drafting of pleadings and legal documents in contested serious
cases; 13. Review documents supplied by client and court; 14. Travel to
Municipal Court; 15. Negotiations with the Prosecutor and Representation in
Municipal Court. 16. Preparation of End of Case Letter and client
questionnaire. 17. Free Brochures provided on other legal topics such as
Workers Comp, Wills, Personal Injury 18. Free subscription to monthly e-mail
newsletter. Provide your email address. 19. Follow up telephone advice [If you
call, provide the specific questions with the message]. 20. Invitation to
client socials/ seminars and Community events via email. 21. Hold and maintain
file for seven years in storage as free client service.
Other Legal Services
Available. You and the Law Firm may make additional agreements to provide for
legal services not covered by the Agreement. Additional services or work must
be paid for. Without such agreements, the Law Firm is not required to do any
additional work or any of the following: (a) Provide any legal services after
the decision of the trial court; (b) Appeal any decisions of the trial court or
make additional appearances after appearing in Court; (c) provide other legal
services or advice not set forth above; or (d) Represent you in any other court
or Tribunal
Your Responsibility-
Please read carefully and follow instructions to help us help you
1. You must fully
cooperate with the Law Firm and provide all information relevant to the issues
involved in this matter. This includes providing details on what you told the
police and court. 2 You must notify the court and the law office immediately if
your address or phone numbers change. 3 Under the NJ Rules of Professional
Conduct and Court Rules, we cannot send a letter of representation to the court
until the Retainer is paid. All fees and requirements under this written
retainer agreement and any other written documents must be complied with. Failure
to comply with all requirements shall permit the law office to withdraw its
offer of representation. The Law Firm will also withdraw at your request. You
must advise our office and the Court in writing.
4 Pay your fines immediately. 5. If you call, you must provide your
questions to our receptionist
