Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. vowed Tuesday to challenge a New Jersey appeals court's refusal to review a well-known judge's decision not to recuse herself from personal injury litigation over the acne drug Accutane, maintaining that she appears to favor the plaintiffs.
In a one-page order, the Superior Court of New Jersey's Appellate Division denied Roche's bid for leave to appeal Judge Carol Higbee's ruling.
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Multicounty Litigation Bloats N.J. Superior Court Backlogs
By David Gialanella | New Jersey Law Journal
August 1, 2013
New Jersey Superior Court case backlogs are at their highest in nearly a decade. As of June 30, the end of the court year, 33,564 cases have been too long on the docket - 23 percent more than a year ago - and they account for 16 percent of the total court case load.
Yet, judiciary officials aren't worried, because the statistics are heavily skewed by a breed of case that defies adherence to predictable completion times. Much of the backlog - set out in the courts' annual management report released July 25 - is comprised of multicounty litigation (MCL).
Formerly known as mass torts, MCLs involve slews of plaintiffs suing in tandem over pharmaceutical products, business practices or other causes of widespread injuries.
Statewide, 9,674 cases - 49 percent of the total MCL docket - are considered backlogged. That's a 182 percent increase from a year ago, when 3,435 backlogged cases made up only 20 percent of the MCL docket.
What's more, the MCL backlogs accounted for 43 percent of the Civil Part backlog and 29 percent of the Superior Court backlog for the year just ended.
Backlogged cases are those not resolved within target times, which vary with the type and nature of the case. The target for criminal matters is four months from date of filing. Civil matters are divided into four "tracks," which have target dates of up to two years.
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By George Amick | The Times of Trenton
July 29, 2013
Here's a thought-provoking what-if to chew on during the long days of summer:
What if the standoff between Gov. Chris Christie and Senate Democrats over Supreme Court appointments, now 38 months old, continues well into Christie's expected second term?
It could happen. Christie figures to win big in November, but his electoral coattails may not be long enough to pull into the Senate the five additional Republicans it would take to give the GOP a majority there. And Christie and Senate President Steve Sweeney, who calls the shots for the Democrats, are two stubborn politicians who are firmly dug in on the court issue.
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By Martin Bricketto | Law 360
July 29, 2013
New Jersey state courts have so far not seen a surge of lawsuits following Superstorm Sandy, not even in areas that bore some of the heaviest damage from the Oct. 29 storm - yet judiciary officials are watching for changes that could warrant a redeployment of resources.
For example, an uptick in construction and insurance cases in Monmouth and Ocean counties has not yet happened, New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner told journalists during an July 25 informational event on the state court system. Going forward, the judiciary should know if Sandy-related lawsuits do spike because it closely tracks all case types, he said.
"We'll have a very good sense," Rabner said. "We monitor these every day."
The state has tried to do its homework on the issue. Rabner and Judge Glenn A. Grant, acting administrative director of the courts, had reached out to the Louisiana court system to not only glean how that state dealt with flood impacts following Hurricane Katrina, but also whether New Jersey could expect a large influx of any particular types of cases, according to judiciary spokeswoman Tamara Kendig.
