In an Unusual Chain Reaction Vehicle Accident Case, The Appellate Division Says “No” to Disqualification of Counsel

McDaniel v. Lee, 419 N.J. Super. 482 (App. Div. 2011).  The merits issue on this appeal was “whether N.J.S.A. 34:15-8, the fellow-servant provision of the Workers’ Compensation Act, …, N.J.S.A. 34:15-1 to -128, which prohibits co-workers involved in a work-related accident from ...

A Vist from Justice Breyer

Two episodes of New Jersey Network’s television program “Due Process,” which are currently scheduled to air in June, will feature an interview with Supreme Court of the United States Justice Stephen Breyer by hosts Raymond Brown and Sandra King.  A Justice since 1994, and the author ...

Don’t Wait 364 Days to Move for Relief Under Rule 4:50

Orner v. Liu, 419 N.J. Super. 431 (App. Div. 2011).  This case involved a motion under several sections of Rule 4:50-1 for relief from a judgment.  Defendants, the movants, waited until one day less than one year from the entry of the ...

Judge Stern Writes a 4-3 Majority Opinion, and Justice Rivera-Soto Joins That Opinion

State v. W.B., 205 N.J. 588 (2011).  After some twists and turns, recounted here, Justice Rivera-Soto stated that he would vote in cases where Judge Stern, who has been temporarily assigned to the Supreme Court, sat, except where Judge Stern cast the ...

One Plaintiff is a Catalyst for Relief, But Another Plaintiff is Not

Smith v. Hudson County Register, 2011 WL 1529730 (App. Div. April 25, 2011).  This opinion, by Judge Sabatino, applied the catalyst doctrine to an Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) case.  In Mason v. Hoboken, 196 N.J. 51 (2008), also an OPRA case, ...

“Interests of Justice” Provision Does Not Aid Tax Appeal Plaintiffs Who Did Not Pay Subject Taxes Timely

Dover-Chester Associates v. Randolph Tp., 419 N.J. Super. 184 (App. Div. 2011).  The procedural history of these consolidated appeals was somewhat convoluted, but the legal issue was straightforward, as Judge Espinosa phrased it for the Appellate Division: “whether relaxation [of the requirement ...

Statute of Frauds Amendment That Covers Palimony Agreements is Not Retroactive

Botis v. Estate of Kudrick, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2011).  January 18, 2010 was the effective date of an amendment to the Statute of Frauds that includes palimony agreements among the types of agreements that must be in writing and ...

More Criticism of Strategies Contrived to Make an Interlocutory Order Appear Final

Conforti v. Kantorowski, 2011 WL 1433764 (App. Div. April 15, 2011).  The Appellate Division often expresses displeasure, or worse, with stratagems designed to obtain immediate appellate review of a decision that is in fact interlocutory and therefore not immediately reviewable except on ...

Landowner Must Exhaust Land Use Law Remedies Before Filing Civil Rights Act Claim

Rezem Family Associates, LP v. Borough of Millstone, 2011 WL 1432181 (App. Div. April 15, 2011).  Plaintiff (“Rezem”) owned a 67-acre tract of vacant land.  Rezem entered into a series of contracts to sell the land to developers.  Each of those purchasers ultimately cancelled the ...

When the Supreme Court Made Orders Compelling Arbitration Immediately Appealable

On this date in 2008, the Supreme Court of New Jersey decided Wein v. Morris, 194 N.J. 364 (2008).  That case involved an order dismissing a lawsuit and directing that the matter be arbitrated pursuant to an arbitration agreement between the ...