The Supreme Court announced the unusual step of soliciting amicus curiae briefs from anyone who might wish to file one in the case of Orientale v. Jennings, an auto accident matter summarized here.  The Court heard oral argument in that case on October 9, 2018 and yesterday published an Order dated November 1, 2018. In that Order, the Court requested supplemental briefing from the parties and from amicus New Jersey Association for Justice, to be submitted simultaneously on December 10, 2018, on the following issues: 1) Should both parties have the right to object to a trial court’s...

The annual summary of Appellate Division statistics is out.  They cover the 2017-18 Term, which ended on August 31, 2018.  Once again, the figures have stayed remarkably consistent from year to year. In civil cases decided by two-judge panels, 75% resulted in affirmances.  The affirmance rate for three-judge civil cases was slightly lower, at 69%.  There were 1,087 two-judge civil opinions and 518 three-judge civil rulings hat produced affirmances. On the criminal side, there were 1,126 two-judge opinions and 129 three-judge decisions where lower court rulings were affirmed.  88% of...

...