Since this is an appellate law blog, its “anniversary” posts (as well as all or virtually all others) deal with appellate decisions. Today’s post is an exception, in that it is the anniversary of Garden State Equality v. Dow, 433 N.J. Super. 347 (Law Div. 2013), decided six years ago today. The opinion, authored by Judge Jacobson, is an extremely useful discussion of stays pending appeal, the criteria for such stays, and the relevant prior decisions. The underlying case involved same-sex couples who sued for the right to marry. Judge Jacobson granted summary judgment to...

A.J. v. R.J., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019). This opinion by Judge Mawla involved a primary custodial parent (plaintiff) who, due to a rent increase at her Elizabeth residence, moved over 60 miles away to Mount Holly. Her ex-husband (defendant) complained that that move, made without real notice to him, violated the parties’ marital settlement agreement and interfered with his parenting time, since he lived in Union, near where his ex-wife had resided. When plaintiff did not move back to the Elizabeth area despite a court order to do so, defendant got an order from the Family...

Raji v. Saucedo, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019). Judge Fisher’s first published opinion of the current Term was another model of concision, consuming less than eight pages. The appeal involved a landlord-tenant situation, in which tenants had not paid rent and the landlord sued for and obtained possession. The parties entered into a so-called “pay and go” judgment, which entitled plaintiff to possession but also fixed defendants’ financial obligations. Defendants did not make the required payments, so plaintiff filed a new action to enforce the financial terms...