Pathri v. Kakarlamath, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). This was a matrimonial matter. Both spouses came to the United States from India. Shortly after plaintiff filed this suit for divorce, he moved back to India. Shortly before trial, plaintiff sought the right to testify from India by contemporaneous video transmission, because he was unable to get a visa to come to the United States to testify in person. The Family Part denied the motion because it would inhibit the judge’s ability to assess plaintiff’s credibility. Plaintiff sought and was granted leave to appeal, and...

New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency v. A.L., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). On October 28, 2019, in a per curiam opinion that can be found at 2019 WL 5544014 (App. Div. Oct. 28, 2019), Judges Fisher and Rose affirmed a Family Part decision finding defendant guilty of child abuse and neglect. After summarizing the facts and the arguments presented by defendant and the Law Guardian on appeal, the panel found that those contentions lacked sufficient merit to warrant further discussion in a written opinion, citing Rule 2:11-3(e)(1)(E), and affirmed based on the...

A.J. v. R.J., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019). This opinion by Judge Mawla involved a primary custodial parent (plaintiff) who, due to a rent increase at her Elizabeth residence, moved over 60 miles away to Mount Holly. Her ex-husband (defendant) complained that that move, made without real notice to him, violated the parties’ marital settlement agreement and interfered with his parenting time, since he lived in Union, near where his ex-wife had resided. When plaintiff did not move back to the Elizabeth area despite a court order to do so, defendant got an order from the Family...