Prior to his retirement, Judge Fall served as a New Jersey Superior Court Judge for over 20 years. He served 12 years in the Family Part, becoming its Presiding Judge in 1989, concentrating in matrimonial litigation. In a survey of lawyers, Judge Fall was ranked third among all trial judges in New Jersey in overall competence. Judge Fall has served as a member of the Supreme Court Complimentary Dispute Resolution Committee, the Family Practice Committee, the Special Committee on Matrimonial Litigation and the Statewide Domestic Violence Working Group. He also served as Chair of the Supreme Court's Task Force on Child Support Enforcement and its Judicial Education Committee. Over the last 8 years of his judicial career, Judge Fall served on the Appellate Division of the Superior Court, where he authored over 900 written opinions, approximately 50 of which are published, in the areas of civil, family, criminal and administrative law. He has numerous published opinions in his specialty of family law.

Judge Fall completed mediation training at Harvard University, and has participated in numerous alternative dispute resolution programs.

Prior to serving in the Judiciary, Judge Fall was in general practice as a partner in the Toms River law firm of Lomell, Muccifori, Adler, Ravaschiere & Amabile, P.A. His practice included civil jury trials; real estate and commercial transactions; zoning and planning; representation of ten municipalities in various capacities; and wills, trusts and estates.

Judge Fall received his B.A. degree from Monmouth University in American History and Russian Studies, and his J.D. degree from University of Miami School of Law. He was a Dean's List student at both universities.

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

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