On December 1, 2023, the Appellate Division issued its opinion in Madlinger v. Township of Independence.
In Madlinger, Cohn Lifland represented the Plaintiff, Scott Madlinger, who requested copies of attorney invoices reflecting legal services provided to Independence. Independence provided the invoices, but they were heavily redacted. The Plaintiff filed suit in New Jersey Superior Court challenging the redactions. After the parties filed briefs with the Court and the unredacted documents were provided to the Court for in camera review, the Court held that the redactions were lawful and dismissed the Plaintiff’s case.
We appealed to the Appellate Division. On appeal, we argued (among other things) that the Trial Court did not provide the parties with a sufficient statement of reasons regarding its ruling. The Appellate Division agreed, and remanded the case back to the Trial Court for it to amplify its prior ruling.
This result does not mean that the case is over, or that either party has prevailed on all issues. Rather, the next step is for the Trial Court to supplement its findings as required by the Appellate Division.
Cohn Lifland’s Walter Luers and Christina Stripp handled the appeal. Christina argued the matter before both the Trial Court and the Appellate Division.