Here’s a snapshot view of the Appellate Division, with a few practical pointers:

  • Last Chance. In most cases, this is the highest court of appeal as of right. Except in interlocutory appeals, no leave to appeal is required. The Appellate Division hears every appeal taken from a final order of the Superior Court’s Law and Chancery divisions, from administrative agencies and from the Tax Court. (Municipal court appeals, which go first to the Law Division, may reach the Appellate Division as well.)
  • No Territoriality. Unlike the intermediary appellate courts of states like New York, the Appellate Division is not subdivided into geographical regions. Each of its eight subdivisions — known as Parts A through H — has jurisdiction over the entire state. Oral arguments are situated according to proximity to the appellate lawyers, not to the judges’ chambers.
  • Random Assignment. Appeals are not taken to a particular part or judge, but to the Appellate Division at large. They are allocated by the clerk of the Appellate Division, James Flynn, who sits in Trenton. The assignment of cases is based on a loose set of criteria: relative workload of the parts; complexity of cases; judges’ previous involvement with motions in a particular case; conflicts of interest between judges and parties or lawyers involved; and location of the attorneys. Cases are not necessarily assigned to judges with particular expertise in the subject matter.
  • Rotation. Each Appellate Division part consists of a presiding judge and three “side” judges. Judges are appointed initially for a seven-year term and then, if reappointed, until age 70. The head of the entire court is Presiding Judge for Administration Sylvia Pressler, who is also the presiding judge of a part. Every September, the 26 side judges are rotated to different parts. This is done to give judges an opportunity to work with other colleagues, thus avoiding the development of regional or doctrinal differences among the parts.
  • Magic Number Three. Appeals are heard and decided by panels consisting of two or three judges from the part. Two-judge panels are assigned by the part’s presiding judge where there is unanimity on how the appeal should be decided.

    Three-judge panels are generally reserved for matters in which, according to R. 2:13-2(b), “the appeal presents a question of public importance, of special difficulty, of precedential value, or for such other special reason as the presiding judge shall determine.”