Passaic County Lawyers — Serving All 16 Passaic Municipalities

A Former Judge. A Father-Son Trial Firm. Fifty Years of New Jersey Practice.

Avery & Avery, Esqs. is a leading Passaic County trial firm. The firm represents clients across all 16 Passaic County municipalities from our offices in Ridgefield (Bergen County) — the same office where Robert W. Avery has practiced since 1976 and where he served fifteen years as a New Jersey Municipal Court Judge (1986–2000). Passaic County is one of our six core practice counties — Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Passaic, Morris, and Sussex.

If you have a Passaic County matter — criminal, DWI, traffic, personal injury, family, landlord-tenant, estate, or municipal court — call (201) 943-2445 for a free first consultation. Robert or John picks up when we’re in the office; voicemails returned promptly.

Passaic County at a Glance

• Seat: Paterson
• 2020 Census population: 525,052
• Municipalities: 16 (operating 16 municipal courts)
• Vicinage: Passaic Vicinage (Vicinage 11)
• Superior Court: Passaic County Superior Court, Passaic County Court House, 77 Hamilton Street, Paterson, NJ 07505 — (973) 247-8000
• Surrogate: Passaic County Surrogate’s Court, 77 Hamilton Street, Paterson, NJ 07505 — (973) 881-4760
• Trauma center: St. Joseph’s University Medical Center (Level II, 703 Main Street, Paterson)
• Land area: 186.0 sq mi

Where Passaic Cases Are Heard

Passaic County Superior Court — Paterson

Indictable criminal matters (first- through fourth-degree crimes), contested civil disputes over $20,000, divorces and custody disputes, chancery equity, and Special Civil Part landlord-tenant matters all sit at Passaic County Court House, 77 Hamilton Street, Paterson, NJ 07505. The Passaic Vicinage (Vicinage 11) operates separate divisions for Civil, Criminal, Family, Chancery work. General phone: (973) 247-8000.

Passaic Municipal Courts (16)

Each Passaic municipality maintains its own municipal court (with a few joint-court arrangements among smaller boroughs). First-offense DWI, Title 39 traffic offenses, disorderly-persons matters, and ordinance violations are heard in the municipal court of the municipality of the stop or incident. The highest-volume Passaic municipal courts are in Paterson and the next several largest cities by population.

Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office

Indictable matters arising in Passaic County are prosecuted by the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, currently led by Camelia Valdes. The office is at 401 Grand Street, Paterson, NJ 07505, phone (973) 881-4800. The Prosecutor’s Office handles indictable felony presentations, the Passaic Vicinage’s Pretrial Intervention (PTI) program under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-12, the Megan’s Law unit, and county-wide diversion programs. Defense engagement on a third-degree-or-above Passaic charge routinely involves the Prosecutor’s pre-indictment conference and PTI screening.

Passaic County Surrogate’s Court

Uncontested probate, executor / administrator qualification, and minor guardianship for Passaic County route to the Passaic County Surrogate’s Court at 77 Hamilton Street, Paterson, NJ 07505. Will contests and contested probate escalate to Passaic County Superior Court — Chancery Division, Probate Part.

Why Avery & Avery for Passaic County Matters

Three things distinguish our Passaic County practice:

Fifty years of continuous New Jersey trial practice. Robert W. Avery opened his Ridgefield trial practice in 1976. John S. Avery joined the firm in 2012 after admission to the NJ Bar. Across two generations, our family-run trial firm has represented North Jersey clients through every meaningful change in NJ criminal, traffic, civil, and family law.

A former New Jersey Municipal Court Judge in the room. Robert served as Judge of the Ridgefield Municipal Court from 1986 to 2000 — fifteen years on the bench. That background informs how we read prosecutorial offers, municipal-court procedure, and judge-by-judge tendencies in a way that matters when Passaic cases are routed to local judicial panels.

Statewide federal-court experience. The firm’s reported case Delvoye v. Lee, 329 F.3d 330 (3d Cir. 2003) — a Hague Convention international-custody matter — established Third Circuit precedent on “habitual residence” of an infant. Passaic County families with cross-jurisdictional issues are not foreign territory to us.

Our Passaic County Practice Areas

We handle the full Title 2C and Title 39 docket in Passaic, plus civil and family-part work:

• Passaic County DWI Defense — Alcotest 7110 + refusal defense across all 16 Passaic municipal courts
• Passaic County Criminal Defense — DP, indictable, and federal-court matters at Passaic County Superior Court
• Passaic County Traffic — Title 39 defense across the county’s road network
• Passaic County Personal Injury — Auto, premises, wrongful death; coordination with St. Joseph’s University Medical Center (Level II, 703 Main Street, Paterson)
• Passaic County Family Law — Passaic Vicinage Family Part divorce, custody, support, alimony
• Passaic County Landlord-Tenant — Passaic Special Civil Part eviction and security-deposit recovery
• Passaic County Estate Planning — Passaic County Surrogate’s Court probate and inheritance-tax planning
• Passaic County Municipal Court — the cross-cutting Title 39 / DP / DWI practice

Passaic Cities We Serve

We routinely appear in the major Passaic municipalities:

• Paterson — population 159,759
• Clifton — population 90,309
• Passaic — population 70,534
• Wayne — population 54,819
• West Milford — population 24,858

We also represent clients across the rest of Passaic County’s 16 incorporated municipalities. If your matter arose in a town not listed above, call (201) 943-2445 — local court coverage is the rule, not the exception.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where do Passaic County indictable charges go?

Passaic indictable matters (third-degree and above) route to Passaic Vicinage (Vicinage 11) — Criminal Division at the Passaic County Superior Court in Paterson. Pre-indictment conferences run through the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office.

Where do Passaic divorces and custody cases go?

Passaic divorce, custody, support, and domestic-violence final restraining orders route to Passaic Vicinage (Vicinage 11) — Family Part, also at the Passaic County Superior Court.

Where are Passaic traffic tickets heard?

In the municipal court of the municipality of the stop. Passaic County operates 16 municipal courts. The Superior Court hears appeals from municipal-court convictions on the trial-de-novo standard.

Who is the current Passaic County Prosecutor?

Camelia Valdes. The Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office is at 401 Grand Street, Paterson, NJ 07505, phone (973) 881-4800. For confirmation, the office’s website is the canonical reference at engagement time.

Schedule a Free Passaic County Consultation

For a free first consultation on a Passaic County matter, call (201) 943-2445 or submit through the form. Same-business-day response. After hours, leave a voicemail; calls returned promptly the next morning.

For background on the firm, see About, Robert W. Avery’s bio, and John S. Avery’s bio.