New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division

If the New Jersey Supreme Court has less than five members available to hear a case, either because of vacancies or recusals, senior Appellate Division judges may be assigned to serve temporarily.

[4] The Appellate Division has a central clerk's office that processes the filing of notices of appeal, briefs, motions and other papers.

Oral argument is held at a variety of courthouses across the state, but only Trenton, Morristown, and Hackensack have purpose-built dedicated courtrooms for the Appellate Division.

Oral argument has also been held at mock courtrooms at the Newark and Camden campuses of Rutgers Law School.

[6] An interlocutory appeal is a highly unusual type of appeal which can be filed before a case is concluded in the trial divisions of the Superior Court (Law or Chancery Divisions or the Family, General Equity, Probate or Foreclosure Parts).

A common example would be a criminal case in which the trial judge has ruled certain evidence, usually drugs, is admissible against the defendant.

Two examples would be the issue of the admissibility of new "breathalyzer" test (called the "Alcotest") or various insurance questions relevant to Hurricane Sandy.

[14] The Court has two programs which are designed to dispose of appeals without the need for a full appellate hearing.

Because of the narrow issues being addressed, appeals considered in this program are argued without the need for full briefing.