A Notice to the Bar, dated September 1, 2021, was published late yesterday. It is available here. Issued by Judge Messano, the Notice is titled “APPELLATE DIVISION REMINDER TO COUNSEL REGARDING SUBMISSION OF CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS AND OTHER ISSUES CONCERNING CONFIDENTIALITY.” Its purpose is “reminding attorneys about the submission and treatment of confidential material in Appellate Division matters.” The Notice first addresses confidential personal identifiers, noting that Rule 1:38-7, applicable on appeal as well as at the trial level, defines “confidential...

Bascom Corporation v. Paterson Coalition for Housing, Inc., 2021 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1846 (App. Div. Aug. 24, 2021). Periodically, our appellate courts offer lessons in “what not to do” or “how not to behave.” The Appellate Division did just that in this case. The decision itself, a per curiam ruling by a panel consisting of Judges Fuentes and Firko, resulted from a foreclosure action. A final judgment of foreclosure was entered against defendant Paterson Coalition for Housing, Inc. (“PCH”). More than nine months after the entry of that judgment, and...

After this post about the Supreme Court’s busy August, that Court decided two more cases. Both were criminal appeals. Here are summaries: State v. Hannah, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). This was a case involving murder and other charges. Defendant was found guilty. After a lengthy procedural history, the Supreme Court voted 4-3 to grant post-conviction relief and vacate the conviction. The grounds were that defendant’s counsel rendered constitutionally deficient representation, and that, but for the deficient representation, there was a reasonable probability of a different outcome at...