In re Declaratory Judgment Actions Filed by Various Municipalities, 446 N.J. Super. 259 (App. Div. 2016).  It has been 41 years since the Supreme Court issued its original Mount Laurel opinion.  Southern Burlington Cty. NAACP v. Mount Laurel Tp., 67 ...

In the federal system, Justice Brandeis’ concurrence in Ashwander v. TVA, 297 U.S. 288 (1936), has been the source most often cited for the principle that courts will avoid reaching constitutional issues when cases can be decided on other grounds.  ...

Cranford Development Associates v. Cranford Tp., 445 N.J. Super. 220 (App. Div. 2016).  This Mount Laurel litigation resulted in a builder’s remedy for construction of a 360-unit residential development in Cranford.  The Township and other defendant municipal agencies appealed, but ...

In re Petition for Referendum to Repeal Ordinance 2354-12 of West Orange Tp., 223 N.J. 589 (2015).  This appeal involved the timeliness of a challenge to a bond ordinance for redevelopment work that was adopted by the Township of West ...

In re Adoption of Monroe Tp. Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, 442 N.J. Super. 563 (App. Div. 2015).  Many intermediate appellate courts frequently issue opinions that affirm on the basis of rulings by trial level judges.  New Jersey’s Appellate ...

Sixty-five years ago today, on November 20, 1950, the Supreme Court decided Fischer v. Bedminster Tp., 5 N.J. 534 (1950).  That opinion, written by Justice Heher, contains one of the earliest and best post-1947 Constitution expositions of the action in ...

Jacoby v. Englewood Cliffs Bd. of Adj., 442 N.J. Super. 450 (App. Div. 2015).  At least since North Bergen Action Group v. North Bergen Tp. Planning Bd., 122 N.J. 567 (1991), height variances have been a source of some puzzlement.  ...

Casser v. Knowlton Tp., 441 N.J. Super. 353 (App. Div. 2015).  Two consolidated cases, three Law Division judges who had pieces of these matters, and a lengthy and convoluted procedural history, including a prior appeal, were some of the key ...

My three-week trial ended late last week, with a successful jury verdict.  But June was a very busy month in the world of New Jersey appellate practice, with numerous important decisions by the federal and state appellate courts.  Some of ...

In re Failure of the Council on Affordable Housing to Adopt Trust Fund Commitment Regulations, 440 N.J. Super. 220 (App. Div. 2015).  The Fair Housing Act, N.J.S.A. 52:27D-329.2(a), states that the Council on Affordable Housing (“COAH”) “may authorize a municipality ...