William C. Soukas
How Judge Soukas rules, drawn from 2 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Soukas
William C. Soukas is a judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey in the Bergen Vicinage. He joined the bench in July 2023 and has served in the Civil Division since April 2024. He served as Bergen's designated Complex Business Litigation Program judge beginning in September 2024.
Judge Soukas's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Soukas's own (checked October 11, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 11, 2026).
How Judge Soukas decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In 145 B.A. Realty v. RLF Acquisitions, Soukas denied a purchaser’s summary judgment request to release part of a contract deposit before closing. He read the allocation clause as applying only at closing and declined to supply a term for piecemeal early release.
“‘We do not supply terms to contracts that are plain and unambiguous, nor do we make a better contract for either of the parties than the one which the parties themselves have created.’ ... Courts do not have the power to rewrite the contract the parties have made or make a better contract for one party over the other.”
In J and B Realty v. Mitsui Foods, Soukas found that Section 17.4 of the sale agreement preserved specified representations and warranties after closing, subject to its notice requirement.
“The Court finds that the language used in Section 17.4 of the Agreement is clear and unambiguous and, as such, that the parties intended to provide for survival of the representations and warranties set forth in Section 7 of the Agreement, post-closing, subject to the notice provisions of Section 17.4.”
Procedural preferences
In J and B Realty v. Mitsui Foods, Soukas denied summary judgment on a common-law fraud claim because discovery had not begun and material factual disputes remained.
“At the time this motion was filed, discovery had not yet been conducted. Therefore, the Court finds that genuine issues of material fact exist regarding the facts underlying the criteria to prove a claim for common law fraud, and that the motion is premature at this time.”
In 145 B.A. Realty v. RLF Acquisitions, Soukas converted RLF's pleadings motion to a summary judgment motion after its papers introduced material outside the pleadings.
“Because the papers submitted in connection with the motion presented matters outside the pleadings, the court converted and treated the motion as one for summary judgment, as permitted under R. 4:6-2.”
Cautions
In 145 B.A. Realty v. RLF Acquisitions, Soukas refused to release part of the deposit before closing despite one seller's consent because the agreement provided for allocation at closing and other sellers objected.
“The Court finds that Article 3.3 clearly and unambiguously provides, for the allocation of the purchase price and the total deposit as between the Beyer Entities and the Stagnari Entity, effective upon closing.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the reasons that follow, Defendants' motion is DENIED.”
“For those reasons, the motion of defendant/Counterclaim Plaintiff/Third Party Plaintiff RLF Acquisitions, LLC is DENIED.”
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Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Soukas, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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