Prior to his retirement, Judge Serpentelli served as a New Jersey Superior Court Judge for almost 29 years. He was Assignment Judge of Ocean County for over 22 years and at his retirement he was the longest serving Assignment Judge in the history of the judiciary. During his time on the bench, Judge Serpentelli sat in all divisions of the court. While Assignment Judge, he served as one of the State's three Mount Laurel judges, handled most of the Prerogative Writs litigation in the county, and all types of family, civil and equity matters. Judge Serpentelli has served as Chair of the Supreme Court Committee on Family Practice from its inception in 1983, the Chair of the Statewide Domestic Violence Working Group from its inception in 1989 up to his retirement and chaired, or was a member of, over 20 other Civil and Family division committees. During his career on the bench, Judge Serpentelli authored hundreds of opinions in all areas of law, over 50 of which were published. He has also been a frequent lecturer at judicial education programs in many areas of the law, including training of newly appointed judges in settlement methodologies. Judge Serpentelli lectured at Harvard Law School and the Cornell School of Law concerning affordable housing issues. His work in the development of affordable housing law has been nationally recognized. In a recent survey of lawyers, Judge Serpentelli ranked first among all New Jersey Judges for overall competence.

Judge Serpentelli completed mediation training at Harvard Law School as well as a comprehensive course in mediating land use disputes at the Lincoln Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During his tenure on the bench, the Judge also conducted formal mediation of cases referred by other judges and participated as a lecturer in numerous dispute resolution programs.

Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Serpentelli was a partner in the law firm of Sim, Sinn, Gunning, Serpentelli and Fitzsimmons. His practice involved all phases of law including civil litigation, real estate and commercial transactions and representation of many governmental entities. At the time of his appointment to the bench, Judge Serpentelli represented 13 governmental bodies including municipalities, zoning and planning boards and boards of education.

Judge Serpentelli received his B.A. degree from Rutgers University in Political Science and his J.D. degree from the Cornell School of Law. Prior to commencing the practice of law, Judge Serpentelli served as a judicial clerk for Chief Justice Joseph Weintraub of the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Benchmark Resolution Services provides dispute resolution assistance to attorneys and individual parties who are involved in litigation which has been docketed in Court - or in some instances where litigation has been threatened and the parties wish to proceed with dispute resolution prior to the formal filing of any documents. These dispute resolution services take three forms: mediation, arbitration, and complex case management.

In every dispute the parties will at some time discuss the potential for settlement with their attorney. Studies over the last several years have revealed that the settlement can, in many instances, be reached with the assistance of a qualified independent third party facilitator. The function of Benchmark in the mediation process is to provide a retired judge who will act as a third party facilitator in the conduct of settlement negotiations between the parties. The retired judge/mediator does not represent any of the parties. The retired judge/mediator meets with the parties and their attorneys, discusses the issues and the options for settlement. The retired judge/mediator then will meet with the parties individually. All discussions, by statute, are confidential and privileged.

In many cases the parties cannot settle. They may have agreed prior to a dispute arising to submit any disagreement to arbitration. This circumstance usually arises where the parties had previously entered into a contract which required that any disagreement with regard to the contract would be resolved by arbitration. In the alternative, during a dispute the parties may agree that they do not wish to submit their disagreement to the courts. This decision may be based on a cost analysis, a concern for time delay, a desire for confidentiality or a combination of all of the foregoing. When a matter is submitted to Benchmark for arbitration, a retired judge acts as the final decision maker. The retired judge reviews the documents, listens to testimony, entertains argument and renders the ultimate decision.

In some complex cases, disputes arise with regard to pre-trial preparation. For example: the parties cannot agree on the propriety of written questions being asked as part of the pre-trial discovery process, or the parties cannot agree on the documents which a party is being asked to produce, or the parties cannot agree on the persons, times, or places for depositions. In such circumstances counsel often recognize the prohibitive cost and time delay associated with bringing formal motions before the court. In such circumstances the parties will turn to a third party to resolve pre-trial discovery and scheduling issues. Unless the parties agree otherwise, such services are provided by Benchmark which incorporates and makes reference to an Order Appointing Discovery Master which is to be signed by the sitting judge who is assigned the case.

Judge Serpentelli is not affiliated with any law firm. He looks forward to serving the Bar, the Bench and the public in all areas of alternate dispute resolution and complex case management. He is willing to travel to accommodate counsel and their clients.

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