No posts on this blog covered published Appellate Division decisions issued in August. Thus, as with the Supreme Court decisions from August, this post will be a "lightning round" of brief summaries of the six August published opinions of the Appellate Division....
During August, while this blog was inactive, the Supreme Court had its second-busiest month of the Term that ends today. The Court issued ten decisions, a figure exceeded only by the twelve rulings handed down in July. To catch up, this post will consist of "lightning round" summaries, at most a few sentences each, about those decisions. The plan is for this blog's more traditional detailed analyses to return in the new Term....
Today, the Supreme Court published an Omnibus Rule Amendment order. It is available here. The amendments take effect on September 1, 2026....
In addition to issuing a slew of opinions in the recent period (to be the subject of another catch-up post), the Supreme Court granted review in five appeals. All involved grants of certification....
Diana v. LVNV Funding, LLC, ___ N.J. ___ (2026). [Disclosure: I represented amici curiae Consumers League of New Jersey and National Association of Consumer Attorneys in this appeal]. In a unanimous opinion by Justice Hoffman, the Supreme Court held that plaintiff, suing on behalf of a putative class, could not assert an implied private right of action to void a loan contract, pursuant to the New Jersey Consumer Finance Licensing Act, CFLA, N.J.S.A. 17:11C-1 to -49 ("CFLA"), against institutional debt-buyer defendants that allegedly purchased his credit card debt without a requisite license....
The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in four new appeals. Two of those cases, both criminal matters, are before the Court on leave to appeal. The other two, each one of them a civil case, came to the Court on grants of certification....
In an Order available here, Chief Justice Rabner announced that Judge Zazzali-Hogan will be temporarily assigned to the Appellate Division's Part G. That assignment will commence on August 24 and will extend through November 1 and "for such additional period of time as may be necessary to decide all motions and to conclude all matters assigned to" her....
Reed v. Muoio, ___ N.J. ___ (2026). As Justice Noriega said in his unanimous opinion in this appeal, the case centered on a 1995 amendment to the New Jersey Constitution, N.J. Const. art. VIII, § 2, ¶ 5), that "prohibit[ed] any law, rule, or regulation that was determined to be an unfunded mandate." The amendment directed the Legislature to establish the Council on Unfunded Mandates ("the Council") to resolve whether a statute, rule, or regulation was an unfunded mandate. The issue in this case was whether the Council exceeded its powers....
New Jersey's current Constitution was adopted in 1947. Less well-known, however, is that New Jersey's first Constitution was adopted in 1776, on July 2 of that year. (In between, New Jersey adopted a new Constitution in 1844, which gets little attention these days). Thus, as we near the celebration of 250 years since the Declaration of Independence on July 4, today is also a day to celebrate....
In the time since the most recent post on this blog about Supreme Court opinions, the Court issued rulings in three cases. Here are summaries:...
