Siete Urban Associates v. Pitney, Hardin, Kipp & Szuch, 2010 WL 5426650 (App. Div. Oct. 25, 2010). In this opinion, the Appellate Division decried the practice of “dismissals without prejudice entered for the sole reason of making an old case new again as occurred here.” The court cited Judge Fisher’s opinion in Grow Co. v. Chokshi, 403 N.J. Super. 443, 454 (App. Div. 2008), which contains an attack on the tactic of trying to appeal interlocutory decisions as final, and noted that this and other stratagems “mock[ ] the considerable efforts expended by the judiciary in analyzing the speed at which cases are or should be adjudicated in our courts.”
Judge Fisher was on the panel in Urban Associates too. So while it’s never a good idea to concoct an appeal in violation of the Rules and proper practice, when Judge Fisher is on the panel the court will have even less patience for such tactics.