The Supreme Court has published for comments the report of its Civil Practice Committee.  The report is available here.  The Committee has proposed revisions to three appellate rules. There are two proposed changes to Rule 2:6-2.  Revised Rule 2:6-2(a)(1) would require that, in every point heading in the appellant’s brief, a parenthetical reference at the end of the heading state “the place in the record where the opinion or ruling in question is located or if the issue was not raised below a statement indicating that the issue was not raised below.” Relatedly, a new Rule...

This first post of 2016 reminds us all that appellate courts all have rules that dictate even mundane matters, such as the color of brief covers.  Appellate judges take those rules seriously, since those rules enable judges to know at a glance which brief they are about to read. Last week, the National Football League learned that lesson in its appeal in the “Deflategate” case involving New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Second Circuit Docket No. 15-2801cv.  As reported here, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the NFL’s reply brief because it had a cover...

In re New Jersey Firemen’s Ass’n Obligation to Provide Relief Applications Under the Open Public Records Act, 443 N.J. Super. 238 (App. Div. 2015).  The OPRA (Open Public Records Act) opinions just keep on coming.  This lengthy opinion by Judge Ostrer addressed two issues.  The major question was whether a government records custodian may bring an action seeking “a declaratory judgment that it properly denied access to a record under OPRA and the common law right of access.”  After analyzing the Declaratory Judgment Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:16-50 to -62 (“DJA”),...