July 8, 2019
ROBERT B. SPAWN reports on a recent published decision from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.
In a recent New Jersey case, a Plaintiff, a student at a Defendant-Middle School in Union County (the "School"), was injured while playing in a student-teacher fundraising basketball game.
Approximately fifteen teachers and seventeen students participated in the June 2013 game, which was officiated by a referee. There were also five other teachers who did not play in the game, but attended to provide supervision. During the game, Plaintiff went up for a rebound and made contact with a Defendant-Teacher (the "Teacher") playing for the opposing team. As a result of the contact, Plaintiff landed awkwardly, fell, and sustained injuries to her knee.
In October 2015,(...)
June 14, 2019
MARGARITA ROMANOVA reports on a recent unpublished decision from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.
In a recent unpublished decision, the Appellate Division affirmed the trial court's determination that the payor spouse failed to present sufficient evidence of cohabitation to warrant suspension or termination of his alimony obligation.
Prior to the parties' divorce in 2013 (and during their separation), the wife began a romantic relationship with her paramour, and they had a child together shortly thereafter. Two years after the parties' divorce, the husband hired a private investigator to conduct surveillance of his wife's alleged cohabitation with her paramour.
At the plenary hearing, the investigator testified that the paramour drove the parties' son to(...)
June 13, 2019
STELIOS STOUPAKIS reports on a recent unpublished decision from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, concerning the suppression of evidence when a police officer intentionally prolonged a routine traffic stop to enable a "canine sniff" test which resulted in damaging evidence against the driver.
Specifically, the Appellate Division effectively secured a driver's rights during a routine traffic stop and tightened a police officer's broad authority over a driver. A police officer is authorized to conduct several unrelated checks during a lawful traffic stop; however, the police officer cannot do so in efforts to prolong a stop without reasonable suspicion that would justify detaining an individual.
The Defendant, in this case, was charged with second-degree(...)
June 10, 2019
ROBERT B. SPAWN reports on a recent unpublished decision from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.
In a recent New Jersey case, a Plaintiff ran a business which produced commercial advertisements for use on cable television and YouTube. On April 17, 2015, Plaintiff sent an email to a municipal Defendant-Non-Profit Corporation in which she stated that she had previously presented the idea of running local TV commercials promoting the town of Keyport to Defendant's Representative during a fall 2014 meeting. Plaintiff also attached a detailed proposal to her email, in which she referenced two projects that she could potentially produce (both involving commercials that would run on cable TV in Monmouth County and on YouTube). However, in May 2015, Defendant's(...)
June 3, 2019
MARGARITA ROMANOVA reports on a recent unpublished decision from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.
In a recent unpublished decision, the Appellate Division reversed the trial court's denial of the payor spouse's post-judgment application for a downward modification of his alimony obligation and reminded all litigants that an improvement in the financial circumstances of the supported spouse can constitute a change in circumstances that warrants a downward modification of an alimony obligation.
The parties divorced in 2012, and the Husband assumed an obligation to pay his former spouse permanent alimony. Three years later, the Husband's first application to modify his alimony obligation was denied. In 2017, as a result of the Husband's refusal to pay, the Wife(...)
