Ippolito v. Ippolito, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020); Garden State Investment v. Township of Brick, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). Each of the last two days saw published opinions by Judge Fisher. Each one was short, and each involved the type of equitable issues for which Judge Fisher is perhaps best known. Ippolito v. Ippolito may be the name of the first case, but the case, an outgrowth of a “lengthy and hotly-contested matrimonial action,” is in fact about the effort of one of the parties’ law firms to get paid. One of the husband’s former attorneys...

C.C. v. J.A.H., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, N.J.S.A. 2C;25-17 et seq., allows the issuance of a restraining order for the protection of any “victim of domestic violence.” Such victims include “any person who has been subjected to domestic violence by a person with whom the victim has had a dating relationship.” But the statute does not define “dating relationship.” The question in today’s opinion by Judge Rose was whether the parties had a “dating relationship” even though they never went...

In re Adoption of a Child by C.J., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). This opinion, issued today,must have been a very distasteful opinion for Judge Koblitz to write. As will be seen, the bottom line is “to be continued,” so quoting the first paragraph of the opinion in full and inviting readers to look at the rest of the decision for the unfortunate details suffices for today: “We write to emphasize that an attorney has an obligation to inform the court if he or she is not able to handle an assigned matter professionally due to a lack of expertise and inability to...