Appeals Law in New Jersey

Sometimes Judges impose seemingly harsh decisions which can include (at times) sanctions for monetary penalties and mandatory participation in programs and/or court sanction organizations.   Appealing contempt of Court in a Civil case is seldom discussed and well understood by parties to litigation as well as many of their attorneys. I have decided to give you a brief introduction to this topic in this post. A proceeding to enforce litigants’ rights under Rule 1:10-3 is essentially a civil proceeding to coerce a defendant into compliance with the court’s order for the benefit of the private litigant. Thus, an application for relief under Rule 1:10-3 is distinguishable from a criminal contempt proceeding which is ‘essentially criminal’ in nature and is instituted for …

By Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq. of Hanlon Niemann & Wright, a Freehold, NJ Appeals and Appellate Court Attorney My last blog on appeals and the appellate court talked about the necessity of filing a motion for leave to appeal an interlocutory order, and whether the process is truly worth going through.  Remember that the court must give the party permission to appeal, and it is a heavy burden on the appellant to show that there is some sort of prejudice that will infect the trial, which warrants relief before it is adjudicated on.  Today, I will talk more about the procedure to do this. Once the interlocutory order is entered, the party has 20 days after receipt of the order …

By Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq. of Hanlon Niemann & Wright, a Freehold, NJ Appeals and Appellate Court Attorney One of the common misconceptions about appeals is that you can only appeal a final judgment in a case.  You go through the litigation process, have a trial, get a verdict, and then you appeal the verdict to an appellate court.  But you can appeal to the appellate court BEFORE the trial begins.  If the trial court signs an order during the discovery phase compelling a witness to answer a question the witness feels is privileged, or signs an order granting partial summary judgment on certain issues, the aggrieved party can file a motion for leave to appeal this order.  Because there …

By Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq. of Hanlon Niemann & Wright, a Freehold, NJ Appellate Law Attorney Litigation is a lengthy process.  It starts with the filing of a complaint, which is followed by an answer from the opposing party or parties.  Discovery commences, and it can be a year from the date the complaint is filed before a trial even occurs.  Fortunately, our court system provides ways to deal with actions that require urgent relief.  At the trial level, you can file what is known as an order to show cause with temporary restraints, which is an action the court will hear right away and either grant or deny any relief the plaintiff seeks.  For example, in a family law …

By Fredrick P. Niemann, Esq. a New Jersey Appeal Attorney There are two situations where a taxpayer can get around the strict time constraints for appeals.  The first is when there is a violation of due process, see CMMI v. Bellville Twp., 19 N.J. Tax 193, 198 (App. Div. 2000), and when the taxpayer pays the tax and then requests a refund.  However, both are applicable only in rare circumstances. In CMMI¸ the taxpayer was a non-profit entitled to tax exempt status. See CMMI, supra, 19 N.J. Tax at 195. It received the notice of being placed on the tax roles one day before the filing deadline for tax exempt status because of a change of address. See id. at …