NJ Appellate Law Blog

Judge Shwartz Nominated to the Third Circuit

President Obama has nominated Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. She would fill the "New Jersey seat" that was created when Judge Barry took senior...

Calculating the Available Discovery Period

Jatczyszyn v. Marcal Paper Mills, Inc., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2011). The key issue in this case involves how to calculate the discovery period permitted by the Court Rules in a circumstance where...

Unfiled Discovery From Lawsuit Brought by Public Agency May be Producible Under Common Law Right of Access

Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP v. New Jersey Dep't of Law & Public Safety, 421 N.J. Super. 489 (App. Div. 2011). Under settled caselaw, litigation discovery that is not filed with the court during the...

Oral Settlement Agreement Reached During Mediation May be Enforced

Willingboro Mall, Ltd. v. 240/242 Franklin Avenue, LLC, 421 N.J. Super. 445 (App. Div. 2011). Normally, any settlement, even an oral settlement agreement, can be enforced. The question in this case was...

An Unpublished Appellate Division Decision is Binding on the Parties to that Ruling

Triffin v. Capital One, 2011 WL 2848271 (App. Div. July 20, 2011). Under Rule 1:36-3, "[n]o unpublished opinion shall constitute precedent," and "except to the extent required by res judicata, collateral estoppel, the single...

Oral Argument on Substantive Civil Motions Under Rule 1:6-2(d): A Modest Proposal

LVNV Funding, LLC v. Colvell, 421 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2011). This opinion, by Judge Koblitz, reversed summary judgment for a creditor on a revolving credit card account and...

The Supreme Court Discusses, for the First Time, Two Exceptions to the Open Public Records Act

Kovalcik v. Somerset County Prosecutor's Office, 206 N.J. 581 (2011). The Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 to -13 ("OPRA"), makes "government records," as broadly defined in OPRA, generally accessible. However, the right of access...

When A Client Legitimately Decides to Change Counsel, the Replaced Attorney Can't Sue the New Attorney

Nostrame v. Santiago, 420 N.J. Super. 427 (App. Div. 2011). Many attorneys have seen a potentially lucrative case walk out the door because the client has decided to switch attorneys. The...

Dismissal for Failure to Provide Discovery is Interlocutory and, Thus, Not Immediately Appealable

Ott v. Guardian Protective Services, Inc.., 2011 WL 2297783 (App. Div. May 24, 2011). Final orders are immediately appealable, while interlocutory orders, which do not conclusively resolve all issues as to all parties, are interlocutory...

1968: The Year of the "Discovery Rule"

The Supreme Court of New Jersey decided several cases in 1968 that began the expansion of the discovery rule in New Jersey. On this date, the Court decided Diamond v. New...

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A Supreme Court Oral Argument Anniversary (Tomorrow)

On January 3, 2005, the Supreme Court began livestreaming its oral arguments. As it happens, a case I was involved in was the first argument that day and, therefore, the first to be livestreamed. The Court has continued that practice ever since....

The Second Half of December

The last two weeks have seen no Supreme Court opinions. But the Appellate Division published three opinions, two of them in the criminal realm and one civil appeal. Here are summaries, to close out 2025:...

No "Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week" Posts for This Week and Next Week

There are no Appellate Division oral arguments scheduled for this week or next week, as the court takes a holiday break to that extent. So there will be no "Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week" posts here for this week or next....

A Privity of Contract Anniversary

On this date in 1984, the Supreme Court decided Arohnson v. Mandara, 98 N.J. 92 (1984). A unanimous opinion written by Justice Schreiber, the opinion was one of a series that cut back on privity of contract as a defense....