With Justice Solomon reaching mandatory retirement age in August, it was widely reported that Governor Murphy would nominate John Hoffman to fill that seat. Today, the Governor did just that. Hoffman has a lengthy record as a public sector attorney. His resume includes work as a trial attorney in the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, as an U.S. Attorney in Trenton, and as Director of Investigations in the New Jersey State Comptroller’s Office. Hoffman also served as an Executive Assistant Attorney General and as Acting Attorney General in the Christie administration. He spent some t ..read more

State v. Walker, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2024). Judge Chase, the author of this opinion, aptly summarized the issue and the result in his opening paragraph. “The question before us on appeal is whether, in the context of a criminal case, a defendant has the right to direct the sequence in which victims receive restitution payments and if restitution can be extinguished when a victim has not been located. Cancelling out restitution would run counter to the remunerative, rehabilitative, deterrence, and punitive goals of restitution, allow a defendant to keep the fruits of their offense, a ..read more

Toward the end of last week, the Supreme Court issued one opinion and the Appellate Division published rulings in two appeals. Here are summaries: Boyle v. Huff, ___ N.J. ___ (2024). This was Justice Noriega’s first majority opinion as a Justice. It was not, however, his first opinion since he joined the Court. That is because, as discussed here, he filed a dissenting opinion previously. The Boyle opinion, a unanimous one, addressed the question of whether an indemnification clause in a condominium association’s bylaws applied to an indemnitee’s first-party claim for attorneys’ fees and costs ..read more

As discussed here, Judges Augostini, Bergman, Jacob, and Torregrossa-O’Connor were temporarily assigned to particular Parts of the Appellate Division for the period of March 25-May 19, 2024. Chief Justice Rabner has now announced that effective August 1, 2024, those same four judges are again being temporarily assigned to the Appellate Division. There is no end date for those temporary assignments and no specification as to which Parts those judges will join effective August 1 ..read more

New Jersey Division of Child Protection & Permanency v. J.C., ___ N.J. ___ (2024). Justice Solomon’s unanimous opinion for the Supreme Court today posed the question before the Court this way: “whether a family court judge may dismiss an action for the care and supervision of children brought pursuant to N.J.S.A. 30:4C-12 but continue restraints on a parent’s conduct.” The Family Part and the Appellate Division both answered “yes.” But the Supreme Court granted review and reversed, applying de novo review to the question of statutory interpretation presented. Though the detailed facts of t ..read more

Justice Alan B. Handler died on May 23. He was 92 years old. Justice Handler served on the Supreme Court of New Jersey for 22 years, from 1977 through 1999. He wrote hundreds of majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions during that time, ranging all across the law. Even a partial listing of some of his most important opinions shows landmark or leading decisions in a wide array of subject matter areas. Those include, for example (selecting just one case on each topic, and just a handful of topics), administrative law, Metromedia, Inc. v. Director, Division of Taxation, 97 N.J. 313 (1984), d ..read more

It’s the time of year when the Supreme Court gets into a higher gear when it comes to issuing opinions. The Court released three decisions this week, all of them unanimous. Here are summaries: In re Protest of Contract for Retail Pharmacy Design, ___ N.J. ___ (2024). As discussed here, this case involved the question of the proper venue for an appeal of an action by University Hospital, a state entity. A disappointed bidder for the design, construction, and operation of a pharmacy at the hospital appealed the rejection of its bid to the Appellate Division, invoking Rule 2:2-3(a)(2), which perm ..read more

Due in part to my attendance at the NJSBA Annual Meeting last week, this blog is somewhat behind on last week’s published opinions by the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division. Here are summaries of the two published rulings, one from each court, from last week that this blog has not already covered. Maia v. IEW Construction Group, ___ N.J. ___ (2024). This case, a putative class action under the Wage Payment Law , N.J.S.A. 34:11-4.1 et seq. (“WPL”), and the Wage and Hour Law, N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a et seq. (“WHL”), centered on a 2019 amendment to those statutes, L. 2019, c. 212 (“Chapter 212 ..read more

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in one more new case. The case is Brehme v. Irwin. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is “Under the circumstances presented, did the filing of a warrant to satisfy judgment under Rule 4:48-1 bar plaintiff from filing an appeal, and if not, could plaintiff seek future medical expenses that would exceed her personal injury protection (PIP) coverage under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-12?” A three-judge panel of the Appellate Division, in a concise unpublished per curiam opinion, dismissed the appeal as moot becau ..read more

Goyco v. Progressive Ins. Co., ___ N.J. ___ (2024). Plaintiff was hit by a car while he was operating a low-speed electric scooter (“LSES”), a Segway Ninebot KickScooter Max. As Justice Solomon described it in his unanimous opinion for the Supreme Court today, “[t]he ‘Segway Ninebot KickScooter Max’ is an LSES that has two wheels connected by a floorboard, as well as handlebars, a headlight, brake light, and speedometer. Pursuant to its owner’s manual, the LSES is designed to be operated using its rechargeable battery, which powers its electric motor.” Plaintiff had a personal insurance policy ..read more