NJ Appellate Law Blog

District Judges Sitting by Designation on Circuit Courts of Appeal

Last week's decision in the Diamond Antitrust case, where an en banc Third Circuit undid a 2-1 panel decision in which a district judge, sitting by designation, was one of the members of...

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...

Diluting the Right to Oral Argument on Trial Level Motions

Abulkhair v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 2010 WL 4226222 (App. Div. Oct. 27, 2010). Here, a party's notice of motion in the Law Division requested oral argument only if there...

Statutory Ban on Retroactive Reduction of Court-Ordered Child Support is Inapplicable to Reductions Based on a Child's Emancipation

Bournes v. Harris, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2026). This post-dissolution appeal from the Family Part involved several questions arising out of a Marital Settlement Agreement ("MSA") entered in a Texas court. In an opinion by Judge Firko, the Appellate Division affirmed a ruling by Judge Lougy, whom the panel identified by name, that New Jersey courts had jurisdiction to enforce and to modify the Texas MSA, and that Judge Lougy properly enforced arrears....

Common Law Bad Faith Claims and Claims Under the Insurance Fair Conduct Act Should, In Many Cases, be Deferred Until After Resolution of Underinsured Motorist Claims

Tenenbaum v. Allstate Ins. Co., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2026). Judge Natali's opinion for the Appellate Division in this matter today involved two matters that were before the court on leave to appeal. The issue in both cases was whether and when "common law bad faith claims under Pickett v. Lloyd's, 131 N.J. 457, 467 (1993), and those brought under the recently adopted Insurance Fair Conduct Act (IFCA), N.J.S.A. 17:29BB-1 to -3," should be stayed until resolution of all disputes relating to underinsured motorist ("UIM") claims brought in the same action....

Coming Soon to the Appellate Division: Summer Parts

The Appellate Division's schedule and roster of summer Parts has been announced. These summer sessions begin on June 15 and run through September 6....

Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: Does Denying a Father's Right to Communicate With His Son Due to the Father's Inability to Pay for Reunification Therapy Violate Due Process?

On Wednesday, April 29, judges on Part B of the Appellate Division will hear oral argument in Dornacker v. Laborante. The case is an unusual one....