The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two cases.  These are the first grants (Nos. A-1 and A-2) of the current Term. The first appeal is Garden State Check Cashing Service, Inc. v. New Jersey Dep’t of Banking & Insurance.  The question presented there, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s Office, is “Under the circumstances presented, was New Loan Co., Wm. S. Rich & Son, Inc. exempt from the statute prohibiting a check cashing business from locating within 2,500 feet of another, N.J.S.A. 17:15A-41(e), by operation of the statute’s...

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...