Retired Third Circuit Judge John Gibbons died yesterday.  He was 94 years old. read more

The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it has granted certification in five more cases.  Those matters run the gamut from criminal cases to tort cases to a long-running consumer class action. read more

Tully v. Mirz, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2018).  This opinion by Judge Geiger today addresses the question of what claims, between two owners of a closely-held corporation, are properly considered derivative claims and what claims are correctly treated as direct claims.  After a one-day bench trial, the trial court dismissed the complaint for lack of standing, asserting that all claims presented were derivative claims that could not be brought directly.  Applying de novo review of the purely legal issue of standing, the Appellate Division affirmed in part and reversed in part, ordering a new trial on certain claims. read more

At his award-winning CA3 Blog, Matthew Stiegler has this post about Judge Vanaskie.  The judge became eligible to take senor status earlier this month, and he will do so effective as of November 30, 2018.  That will create a new vacancy on the Third Circuit. read more

United States v. Baroni, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2018).  In a unanimous opinion by Judge Scirica today, the Third Circuit upheld the convictions of “Bridgegate” defendants Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly on charges of conspiracy to obtain by fraud, knowingly convert, or intentionally misapply property of an organization receiving federal benefits, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and the substantive offenses associated with those conspiracy charges.  But the panel reversed and vacated defendants’ convictions for conspiracy against civil rights and the related substantive offense.  Because some convictions were overturned, the Third Circuit remanded the case for resentencing on the convictions that were upheld. read more

The current occupant of the White House lost the 2016 Presidential election by nearly 3,000,000 votes.  He occupies the White House because the law (Article 2, Section 1 of, and the Twelfth Amendment to, the United States Constitution) makes the tally of Electoral College votes, not the popular vote, decisive. read more

Bermeo v. Bermeo, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2018).  Today is the second consecutive day on which Judge Firko released a published opinion.  The essence of it is that when parties to a divorce matter negotiate and carefully draft a Property Settlement Agreement (“PSA”), that PSA will control going forward. read more

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in three cases.  Two of them are criminal matters.  The third involves a claim against the Fox Rothschild law firm on claims pertaining to monies deposited in the law firm’s trust account. read more