Township of Manalapan v. Gentile, ___ N.J. ___ (2020). Justice Solomon wrote this opinion, issued today, for a unanimous Court. The question was whether, in this condemnation case, the Law Division erred in allowing the jury to hear testimony that the subject property’s highest and best use would require a variance without first having decided whether it was reasonably probable that the necessary variance would be granted. This issue was not new to the Court. In Borough of Saddle River v. 66 East Allendale, LLC, 216 N.J. 115 (2013), the defendant property owner had argued the highest...

The appellate courts have not been idle since the most recent post on this blog. Opinions have been issued, the Supreme Court has taken up more cases for review, and the Appellate Division has entered an Order about scheduling in light of the Covid-19 situation. Here are some summaries: The Supreme Court issued these opinions, the most recent of which (listed first below) was announced this morning: Barla v. Cliffside Park Bd. of Educ., ___ N.J. ___ (2020). At issue, on cross-motions for summary judgment, was the effect of a 2015 collective bargaining agreement that reduced a cap on...

Kornbleuth v. Westover, ___ N.J. ___ (2020). The Supreme Court of the United States frequently seems to split 5-4. It is relatively rare for the Supreme court of New Jersey to split 4-3. Yesterday, in a case involving the unauthorized removal by one set of neighbors of a “fence” made of bamboo on the neighboring residential property, was one of those times. There were two issues before the Court: (1) sanctions imposed against plaintiffs’ counsel, who (having been designated as trial counsel pursuant to Rule 4:25-4) was unwilling to proceed with trial because his associate...