Chief Justice Rabner has issued the General Assignment Order for the coming Term. It is available here.
At the Appellate Division level, the headline is that the number of Parts has been reduced from eight to seven, encompassing a total of thirty judges. Two of the Parts, Parts C and E, have five judges, while the other Parts have four judges, as in the past.
Unlike in several past years, there is no provision for any “Temporary Assignees” on any Part. That is despite the fact that the thirty-judge composition of the Appellate Division for 2021-22 is smaller than the court’s makeup in prior years, where 32 (or, in one recent year, 33) judges comprised the court.
The roster of Presiding Judges of the various Parts involves only one change. Judge Yannotti has retired, and Judge Hoffman has moved up to Presiding Judge of Part C. The other Presiding Judges are Judges Sabatino (Part A), Fasciale (Part B), Alvarez (Part D), Messano (Part E), Fisher (Part F), and Fuentes (Part G). Judge Messano continues as Presiding Judge for Administration, and Judge Sabatino is once again the Deputy Presiding Judge for Administration. Besides Judge Yannotti, Judge Moynihan has also left the court.
The change in the number of Parts, and the presence of five judges on certain Parts, alters the chances of a particular judge sitting on any given appeal. Perhaps a new analysis of those odds will appear here soon.