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...

27-35 Jackson Avenue, LLC v. Samsung Fire & Marine Ins. Co., Ltd., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). This opinion, issued today and authored by Judge Messano, is the first published Appellate Division of the new Term. It arose from unusual circumstances. Plaintiff owned a commercial building in which the United States General Services Administration (“GSA”) was a tenant. “For no apparent reason,” a sprinkler head in the building discharged water, in such amounts that that floor and the one below were damaged. Due to that occurrence, the GSA terminated its...

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...