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Morristown s loss may be Morris County s gain with the anticipated move of the town s law director, Vijayant Pawar, to the New Jersey Superior Court.
He was among five attorneys with Morris County ties nominated by Gov. Phil Murphy to fill a backlog of vacancies in the Morris-Sussex vicinage. The judiciary has warned of a historic shortage of judges at a time when there is a massive backlog of cases due to the pandemic, including complex matters that will take time and expertise to resolve, said state Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-Boonton. .
The others are Claudia Jones of Morristown and the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender; Montville attorney Patricia O Dowd, an assistant section chief in the New Jersey Division of Law and Public Safety; Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Romankow; and Mendham attorney Marcy McMann, a former Morris County assistant prosecutor.
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Camden County Superior Court Steven Polansky is overseeing the litigation, and he continues to block transfers of most inmates. The county had deals with Atlantic and Salem to lease space at their jails and has talked about it with Burlington County.
There was a flurry of court activity last week.
Last Thursday, Polansky notified attorneys for the county and the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender that conflicts in his schedule require the trial, or plenary hearing, to start on Feb. 23.
By Feb. 16, the judge said, he wants to see statements, briefs, witness lists, and estimates on how long each witness would be under oath. The order also indicates the trial will be conducted online, using Zoom, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.