When New Issues Arise on Appeal, Appellate Division Should Conduct Oral Argument Even if No Party Originally Requested It

State in the Interest of D.M., 238 N.J. 2 (2019). In this juvenile delinquency case, neither the State nor defendant sought oral argument in the Appellate Division. The State, the respondent in that court, explained that it believed the issues ...

The Appellate Division Redresses a “Train Wreck”

Zahl v. Eastland, 2019 WL 2025237 (App. Div. May 8, 2019). [Disclosure: I argued this appeal for the successful defendants-appellants, having come into the case after the Law Division entered judgment against defendants]. This was a legal malpractice case in ...

Charitable Immunity Sweeps Broadly to Protect Monmouth University

Green v. Monmouth University, 237 N.J. 516 (2019). In a unanimous opinion by Justice Fernandez-Vina today, the Supreme Court resolved a case that had divided the Appellate Division, as discussed here. The question involved charitable immunity for an injury sustained ...

The Supreme Court Takes Three More Cases

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted review in three new cases. One of them is before the Court on leave to appeal, while the other two involve grants of certification The leave to appeal case is State ...

” … And the Livin’ is Eas[ier]”: Appellate Division Summer Parts for 2019

The summer schedule for the Appellate Division was announced late yesterday.  The Order of Chief Justice Rabner that contains the full schedule is available here. “Summer” (a term not actually used in the Order) in the Appellate Division begins on ...

The Supreme Court Decides Docket No. A-1-2018, Based on Plain Language of the Check Cashers Regulatory Act of 1993

Garden State Check Cashing Service, Inc. v. New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, 237 N.J. 482 (2019).  As discussed here, this was the very first appeal of the current Supreme Court term.  Today, in a unanimous opinion by Justice ...

A Qualified Immunity Case and a Tort Claims Act/Legal Malpractice Case for the Supreme Court

Add two more cases to the Supreme Court’s docket.  One of them is before the Court as of right, by virtue of a dissent in the Appellate Division.  In the other appeal, the Court granted certification. The first case is ...

Conflict Resolved: The Supreme Court Applies the Unemployment Compensation Law in Favor of Benefit Claimants

McClain v. Board of Review, 237 N.J. 445 (2019).  This appeal actually involved two consolidated cases, each of which was the subject of a published opinion in the Appellate Division.  McClain v. Board of Review, 451 N.J. Super. 461 (App. ...

Appellate Courts Can Decline to Review Arguments Made Below as to Other Issues, But Not as to the Issue Actually on Appeal

Chirino v. Proud 2 Haul, Inc., 458 N.J. Super. 308 (App. Div. 2017), aff’d o.b., 237 N.J. 440 (2019). There is a long-settled general rule that an appellate court will not consider issues that have not been raised below.  But ...

No Surprise: The U.S. Supreme Court Says “Ambiguous” Arbitration Agreements Do Not Permit Class Arbitration

Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, 139 S. Ct. 407  (2019).  In Stolt-Nielsen, S.A. v. AnimalFeedsInt’l Corp., 559 U.S. 662 (2010), the Supreme Court of the United States, by a 5-3 vote, held that an agreement that is “silent” as to ...