In making up for lost time, a separate post was warranted to take note of three new grants of review by the Supreme Court.  The cases address very different areas of the law. read more

Several days out of the office last week, and work on a large appellate brief, have left me well behind our appellate courts, who have produced a number of decisions in that interim.  To try to catch up, here are summaries of some of those rulings by the Appellate Division: read more

Reilly v. City of Harrisburg, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2017).  This case involved claims by plaintiffs that an ordinance of the City of Harrisburg unconstitutionally deprived them of the ability to protest outside abortion clinics.  The District Court denied a preliminary injunction.  Plaintiffs appealed, asking the Third Circuit to address the ultimate merits of their constitutional claim.  Speaking through Judge Ambro, the court declined to do that.  But the panel did write a detailed opinion that sought to “clear up confusion caused by opinions in our Court that are in tension” regarding the standards for preliminary injunction decisions. read more

The Supreme Court announced late yesterday that it has granted certification in three more cases.  In the first matter, Serico v. Rothberg, the question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is “Did plaintiff waive her right to pursue attorney’s fees, pursuant to the offer of judgment rule (R. 4:58-1 to -6), by entering into a high-low agreement without expressly reserving her right to recover fees?”  The opinion of the Appellate Division, which was discussed here, affirmed a ruling of the Law Division that the “high” was a cap and that plaintiff could not recover fees above that cap. read more

Today’s seminar, which was sponsored by the NJSBA Appellate Practice Committee, took up the important topic of the record on appeal.  Judge Messano, who headed up the panel, began by stating that the panel hoped actiually to make this topic interesting.  He and the other presenters, who included Judges Lihotz and Cuff (Ret.), as well as representatives of the Supreme Court and Appellate Division Clerk’s offices, succeeded.

Aided by a PowerPoint presentation, the panel began from Rule 2:5-4, w

The Third Circuit website contains a notice today that “CM/ECF is Unavailable.  There is a problem with the application that is currently being addressed.  Deadlines for Tuesday, May 16, 2017 are automatically extended until Wednesday, May 17, 2017.” read more

New Jerseey Division of Child Permanency & Protection v. J.L.G., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2015), aff’d o.b., ___ N.J. ___ (2017).  This abuse and neglect case resulted in a 2-1 split in the Appellate Division.  Judge Simonelli, joined by Judge Leone, upheld the ruling of the Family Part that defendant abused a seven-year old girl when he “unreasonably allow[ed] the excessive corporal punishment by the child’s mother,” defendant’s girlfriend.  The majority applied the very deferential standard of review that has been applied in abuse and neglect cases. read more

In recent years, acceptance by the Supreme Court of questions certified to it by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals under Rule 2:12A has become somewhat more frequent, though still not a regular occurrence.  Today, May 16, however, is the anniversary of the Court’s first opinion answering a certified question under Rule 2:12A.  Musikoff v. Jay Parrino’s The Mint, 172 N.J. 133 (2002).  Justice Verniero wrote the opinion for a unanimous Court. read more