Libertarians for Transparent Government v. Cumberland County, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). Judge Accurso issued this opinion for the Appellate Division today, the first published opinion in a civil case of this new Term. It arose under the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et Seettlement seq., a statute doubtless familiar to readers of this blog. Judge Accurso well encapsulated the issue and the panel’s resolution of it in the first two sentences of her opinion: “The central issue on this appeal is whether a settlement agreement between defendant Cumberland...

Repko v. Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, Inc., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). Judge Accurso’s brief opinion in this case today addressed a “question [that] appears to be one of first impression in New Jersey”: whether a decedent’s estate can apply Rule 4:9-3, the “relation back” rule, to a complaint that was not filed until after the plaintiff in the case had already died. The answer was “no.” Judge Accurso rightly observed that “the timeline is everything in this case,” so here it is. In September 2016, Carolyn Repko...

Due to a personal matter, there have been no posts on this blog since June 2. This post will summarize some of the decisions from our appellate courts since that date. Separately, Governor Murphy nominated Fabiana Pierre-Louis to fill the Supreme Court seat currently held by Justice Timpone when he reaches retirement age in November of this year. A separate post, on another day, will discuss that nomination. Finally, the Supreme Court granted certification in one new case, Haley v. Board of Review. The question presented there, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is...