Our Supreme Court denies far more petitions for certification than it grants. Many people think that a denial of certification means that the Court has ruled in favor of the opponent of certification. In fact, that is not so. In West Point Island Civic Ass’n v. Dover Tp. Comm., 54 N.J. 339 (1969), the Court addressed this very issue. That case had gone through the appellate process once before. The Law Division had granted summary judgment to the defendant Township, but the Appellate Division reversed. The Township petitioned for certification, but the Court denied that petition. On...

On November 15, 2021, I will be a panelist on an NJICLE webcast titled “Appellate Advocacy Perfected.” Headlined by Judges Fisher and DeAlmeida, and featuring a representative of the Appellate Division Clerk’s office and several experienced appellate practitioners, the webinar will run from noon-2 PM. A link to register for the webinar is here. Please join us on November...

The Supreme Court issued its first three opinions of the new Term this week. Here are summaries of those rulings: Bozzi v. City of Jersey City, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). This was the first opinion of the Term, and it resulted in a 5-2 split. Justice Fernandez-Vina wrote the majority opinion, which affirmed the rulings of the Law Division and the Appellate Division held that Jersey City had wrongfully denied plaintiff’s Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request for the names and addresses of dog owners reflected in Jersey City’s dog license records. Jersey City had relied on...