Blog – Page 15 – New Jersey Law Librarians Association (NJLLA)

Supreme Court Rules Committee Reports

Back in 2009-10, at the recommendation of NJLLA, the Judiciary web site added a single index page leading to the biannual and annual pages that provide links to the reports of the various Supreme Court Rules Committees. That index page, which was at http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/reports/, has now been missing for some months, while a dead link to it remains in the “Quick Index” to the Judiciary web site. Communication to the Judiciary webmaster has been unavailing. The biannual and annual pages of reports are still on the site, and their addresses are consistently constructed, using the final year of the reporting cycle. For example, the page for the reports of the 2000-2002 cycle (the earliest reports on the site) is found at http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/reports2002/, and those of the the 2009-2011 cycle (currently the latest ones) are at http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/reports2011/. The Rutgers Law Library has compiled links to all the report pages at http://law-library.rutgers.edu/ilg/njlaw.php#reports.

article on N.J. legislative history

In a recent issue of Legal Reference Services Quarterly appears as article by Barbara H. Garavaglia (of the University of Michigan Law Library), entitled “Using Legislative Histories to Determine Legislative Intent in New Jersey,” 30 LRSQ 71 (2011). Of particular interest in the article is the section on “use of legislative histories in New Jersey Courts,” 30 LRSQ at 73-78 and the accompanying notes.

BPU orders to be on the web

P.L. 2011, c.63, approved May 4, 2011, requires Board of Public Utilities orders to be in writing and to be posted on the BPU’s Internet website. The law is to be effective 30 days after enactment. [Follow-up: As of June 2nd, 2011, BPU orders from 2007 forward, current to mid-May, are available on the BPU website at http://www.state.nj.us/bpu/agenda/orders/.]

Legislative/regulatory "impact" features gone from Lexis.

The “State Legislative Impact” and “State Regulatory Impact” features from Potomac Publishing Company are no longer found on LexisNexis. Pending bills amending a statutory section can be found by Shepardizing that section. Proposed amendments of an N.J.A.C. section can be found by searching the N.J.Register for the section number.

Bill on ALJ opinions progresses

The bill A2722 was reported by a Senate committee on March 10th; the committee amended the bill to allow a party to a case to request a written opinion.

Bill affecting ALJ opinions

As noted in this Monday’s New Jersey Law Journal, 203 N.J.L.J. 590 (Feb.28,2011),
Assembly Bill 2722 [First Reprint] (passed by the Assembly Feb.17th) would authorize certain Administrative Law Judge decisions to be made either without written opinion or with a decision in the form of a checklist, and would also eliminate the power of several agencies to reject or modify ALJ decisions.

The bill would amend N.J.S.A. 52:14B-10 by adding this language in subsection (c):

Unless the head of the agency requests that the recommended report and decision be filed in writing, the recommended report and decision of the administrative law judge may be filed orally in such appropriate cases as prescribed by the director and if a transcript has been requested pursuant to subsection (e) of section 9 of P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-9). ….
An administrative law judge may file a recommended report and decision in the form of a checklist in such appropriate cases and formats as prescribed by the director after consultation with each State agency.

and would add a subsection (g) reading in part as follows:

With regard to contested cases commenced with an agency on or after the effective date of … this bill…. that are described in this subsection1, the report and decision of the administrative law judge shall be the final decision upon the filing thereof with the agency, notwithstanding any other provision of State law to the contrary. In such contested cases, the head of the agency shall not have the opportunity to reject or modify the administrative law judge’s report and decision pursuant to subsection (c) of this section and the final decision by the administrative law judge shall comply with the requirements of and shall be given the same effect as a final decision of the head of the agency … This subsection shall apply to any contested case from:

(1) the Department of Community Affairs;
(2) the Department of Education;
(3) the Department of Environmental Protection;
(4) the Department of Children and Families involving placement on a child abuse registry;
(5) the Department of Health and Senior Services involving placement on the nurse aid registry, and penalty matters;
(6) the Division of Family Development in the Department of Human Services;
(7) the Division of Civil Rights in the Department of Law and Public Safety;
(8) the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission;
(9) the Civil Service Commission; and
(10) the Department of Law and Public Safety under P.L.1988, c.123 (C.56:12-29 et seq.).[the lemon law]

Under another added subsection (f), other agency heads could order that in certain categories of cases the ALJ decision would be final.

Public Web Access to Civil Dockets

The Automated Case Management System — Public Access (ACMS-PA) containing docket information on New Jersey civil cases, is now available via the Judiciary’s web site. On the Judiciary homepage, follow the link “Civil Case Public Access” under “Online Resources” in the left-hand menu. Internet Explorer must be used.

LexisNexis learned from WestlawNext’s debacle of a launch—which involved telling everyone at the same time about a new product while only providing it to one market and leaving other markets to the guesswork; not telling anyone the price; and generally irritating librarians by promoting the new but often unavailable service directly to patrons. Instead, LexisNexis is doing it differently. LexisNexis is targeting the solo and microfirms with the new Lexis Advance. These lawyers have to drum up their own clients and manage their own taxes, payroll, calendars, billing, staffing, and training—all in addition to practicing law! They don’t have librarians or law libraries. They work in small offices, home offices, or shared suites.

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Category: Blog