Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC v. Township of Neptune, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Prudent practitioners who file cases under the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. (“OPRA”), include an alternative claim under the common law right of access. That latter claim is not a mere sideshow. Today, the Appellate Division, speaking through Judge Yannotti, addressed a case where plaintiff (doing business as the Asbury Park Press) lost the argument under OPRA but won access under the common law. The panel then, however, denied plaintiff attorneys’...

BV001 REO Blocker, LLC v. 53 West Somerset Properties, LLC, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Judge Ostrer’s opinion in this case, issued today, may become the new “go-to” source in cases seeking to invoke Rule 4:50-1(f). That Rule permits relief from judgments for “any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment” besides those listed in the preceding sub-sections of Rule 4:50-1. Citing and quoting ‘multiple Supreme Court cases, Judge Ostrer observed that “[s]ubsection (f) affords relief in ‘exceptional...

State v. Williams, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Defendant was convicted in Municipal Court for violating an ordinance that stated that “No person shall unnecessarily obstruct any . . . street, or public place in the Borough [of Victory Gardens] with any kind of vehicle, boxes, lumber, wood, or any other thing[.]” Defendant had applied black paint over white lines on a paved surface whose status she disputed. The Borough said that surface was a street, while defendant claimed that it was part of her property as a “parking bay.” After a trial de novo in the Law...