Palisadium Managemen Corp. v. Borough of Cliffside Park, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2018).  This opinion by Judge Accurso involved an appeal from decisions of the Tax Court that rejected plaintiff’s challenge to tax assessments on its properties.  There was a cross-appeal by the defendant Borough, which related to the Tax Court’s rejection of the Borough’s cost approach for valuing the property.  The Tax Court did not accept plaintiff’s reliance on a cost approach either.  Furthermore, the Tax Court “found such flaws in [plaintiff’s] expert’s...

Balducci v. Cige, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2018).  This opinion by Judge Nugent today affirmed a trial level decision, after a plenary hearing, that voided a retainer agreement between the defendant attorney and the plaintiff client for defendant to bring suit under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 et seq. (“LAD”).  Such cases are normally handled on a contingency, but the agreement at issue here went well beyond that.  Every attorney, even those who do not handle LAD or other contingent matters, can learn from this opinion, which tackles ethical...

Cona v. Township of Washington, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2018).  In Timber Glen Phase III, LLC v. Hamilton Tp., 441 N.J. Super. 514 (App. Div. 2015), the Appellate Division ruled that a local ordinance that required landlords to obtain a license before any unit could be leased and pay an annual fee for the license was ultra vires as beyond the authority of the Licensing Act, N.J.S.A. 40:52-1.  That case distinguished between “the powers to regulate and to license,” and noted that it did not “address [a municipality’s] regulatory or inspection authority granted...