Motions to Terminate Alimony Obligations Due to Cohabitation or Remarriage Are to be Treated Like Summary Judgment Motions

Temple v. Temple, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). When plaintiff Jeffrey Temple and defendant Cynthia Temple divorced, they entered into a marital settlement agreement, incorporated into their 2004 dual judgment of divorce, under which Jeffery was to pay ...

At Least for a Day, The Supreme Court is Back in Person

Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in State v. Dangcil, a case in which, as discussed here, the Court granted direct certification from the Law Division and accelerated the matter. The question presented is a particularly important one: “Is ...

Both a Tax Collector and Her Municipal Employer Can be Liable Under Civil Rights Acts for Improper Refusal to Redeem Property to Avoid Foreclosure

Winberry Realty Partnership v. Borough of Rutherford, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). [Disclosure: I am one of the counsel for the successful plaintiffs in this case.] This case has a long history, having been filed in 2012 and having gone to ...

This Week in the Appellate Division

The Appellate Division issued four published opinions this week (two on Monday and two yesterday). Here are summaries of those rulings: Wilhelm v. Ryder Logistics & Transportation Solutions, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). This case actually involved four ...

Two Rulings in Criminal Cases by the Supreme Court

State v. Szemple, ___ N.J ___ (2021); J.K. v. New Jersey State Parole Bd., ___ N.J. ___ (2021). The Court decided these two criminal appeals in the last two days. Szemple, issued on Wednesday, was a 4-3 decision, while J.K., ...

Despite Commissioner of Education’s Failure to Address Segregative Effects of Expansion of Seven Newark Charter Schools, Those Expansions Stand

In re Renewal Application of TEAM Academy Charter School, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). Justice Patterson’s decision for a unanimous Supreme Court today addressed whether, when considering the expansion applications of seven Newark charter schools, the Commissioner of Education was required ...

Complaint-Summonses From a Municipal Police Department Can be Obtained Under the Open Public Records Act

Simmons v. Mercado, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). Justice Pierre-Louis issued this unanimous opinion for the Supreme Court today. The issue was “whether a records request for complaint-summonses from a municipal police department is proper under the Open Public Records Act ...

A Jury Could Find That a Supervisor’s Use of Two “Highly Offensive” Slurs Created a Hostile Work Environment

Rios v. Meda Pharmaceutical, Inc., ___ N.J. ___ (2021). In Taylor v. Metzger, 152 N.J. 490 (1998), the Supreme Court held that a single racial epithet “was sufficiently severe to contribute materially to the creation of a hostile work environment.” ...

What Not to Do as an Attorney: “Appalling, Unlawyerly Behavior”

United States v. Brace, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 17482 (3d Cir. June 11, 2021). Every so often, attorney conduct is so egregiously bad that it results in a published opinion, and a lesson to other attorneys. This opinion by Judge ...

Reversing the Appellate Division, the Supreme Court Adopts the “Ongoing Storm Rule”

Pareja v. Princeton International Properties, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). This 5-2 decision addressed the “ongoing storm rule,” which Justice Fernandez-Vina’s majority opinion defined as a doctrine “under which a landowner does not have a duty to remove snow or ice ...