The Supreme Court announced late yesterday that it has granted certification in three cases. Two of the matters produced published opinions in the Appellate Division. The first of those is New Jersey Land Title Ass’n v. Rone. The question presented on that appeal, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is “May a county register or clerk charge a ‘convenience fee’ for the electronic filing of documents concerning real property?” The Appellate Division, in an opinion that was reported at 458 N.J. Super. 123 (App. Div. 2019) and discussed here, held...

On this date in 1965, the Supreme Court decided Tidewater Oil Co. v. Mayor & Council of Borough of Carteret, 44 N.J. 338 (1965), a municipal land use case.  That is still the leading case on the question of the extent to which a question of constitutional law allows a party to pursue an appeal to the Supreme Court as of right, as opposed to on a petition for certification, whose grant is discretionary with the Supreme Court.  Subsequent cases have addressed that issue as well, but Tidewater is the foundation for those decisions. As the Court’s per curiam opinion noted, the New...

...