In civil court what happens when two cases overlap?

Question

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?

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.

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?

Answer 1

Typically, courts wait

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.

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.

For cases between the same parties, this is just handled through normal case management and scheduling.