The Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States has issued a preliminary draft of amendments to various rules, including Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure 3 and 42. The amendments and related information are available here. read more

Escobar v. Mazie, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019). This appeal arose out of an order disqualifying every attorney at the law firm of Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman, LLC except Adam Slater from representing the firm or one of its principals, David Mazie, in defense of this malpractice action. Slater certified that he had had no involvement in the underlying matter. Plaintiff successfully argued in the Law Division that Rule of Professional Conduct 3.7 precluded Mazie and most others at the firm from participating in the defense of depositions because those attorneys would be necessary witnesses at trial, and that there was no hardship since Mazie and the firm already had insurance counsel defending them. read more

J.H. v. R&M Tagliereni, LLC, ___ N.J. ___ (2019). [There was the potential of a guest post regarding this case, but that did not pan out. That’s the reason for the delay in this post.] This was a tragic case, in which the Supreme Court split 5-2. Plaintiff, a nine-month old infant, was severely burned when he rolled from a bed into an uncovered radiator in his family’s apartment, which was leased from defendants. Plaintiff and his guardian ad litem sued for his injuries, claiming negligence by the landlord in failing to cover the radiator. read more

The Supreme Court announced that is has granted certification in three more cases. Two of them are criminal appeals. The third is an insurance case in which, due to a dissent in the Appellate Division, an appeal as of right was also filed and accepted by the Court. read more

Due to a Supreme Court brief, a major Appellate Division brief, some personal matters, and issues as to the hosting of this blog, there were no postings here for the last part of July. So this post is in the nature of a retroactive declaration of a hiatus. Hopefully, things will be (closer to) normal going forward. read more

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted review in five more cases. In four of those matters, the Court granted certification. The fifth case will be before the Court as a result of a motion for leave to appeal. read more

The United States Senate this week confirmed Peter Phipps, who currently sits as a District Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, for a seat on the Third Circuit. The vote was 56-40, with three Democrats joining all Republican Senators in voting in favor. Judge Phipps now takes the seat that became vacant when Judge Vanaskie retired. read more

L.R. v. Camden City Public School Dist., ___ N.J. ___ (2019). A relative rarity for our Supreme Court occurred in this case today: the decision of the Appellate Division was affirmed by an equally divided Court. Only six Justices sat because Justice Fernandez-Vina did not participate. read more