The year that ended with the big bang of Hurricane Sandy had, until then, left little impact on the landscape of New Jersey legal practice. There was no blockbuster decision by the state Supreme Court, except for the judicial pension case — limited in effect to the judiciary itself, and even that proved transitory. Court rule changes were minimal and there was no legislation of much consequence to lawyers’ practice.

Rather, 2012 was a year of deadlocks and impasses, such as: