united-states civil-law civil-procedure new-jersey civil-legal-system
In civil court what happens when two cases overlap?
<p>What happens when there are two pending / overlapping court cases where the decision in one case effects the outcome of the other case. Would the court allow the second case to be heard/filed before a decision is made on the first case?</p>
<p>For example, assume Party A files a complaint against Party B to compel arbitration regarding a certain matter. Party B then files a suit against Party A in Special Civil court regarding that matter. Party A's case was originally scheduled after Party B's case or the case initiated by Party A was dismissed but Party A has filed an appeal for the case that was not yet heard.</p>
<p>Do the courts wait/delay hearing of case scheduled by Party B until the court reaches a final decision regarding Party A's case? Does the court merge the two cases?</p>

<h2>Typically, courts wait</h2>
<p>If there is a case on foot and another case may affect the outcome, the court will typically adjourn the matter until the other case is finalised.</p>
<p>This is very common where one case depends on a precedent that the other case may set - normally this would be a case between different parties.</p>
<p>For cases between the same parties, this is just handled through normal case management and scheduling.</p>
