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Letter to the OAL Community

A MESSAGE TO THE OAL COMMUNITY

 

Update—August 22, 2022

 

Please be advised that the OAL will resume its normal operations on September 23, 2022.  This means that the office will be open to the public for in-person proceedings without limitation.  While most proceedings will return to in-person, some may remain by telephone or on Zoom.

 

                                               Barry E. Moscowitz

                                               Acting Director and Chief Administrative Law Judge

Update—March 22, 2022

 

            Spring greetings from the Office of Administrative Law.  We are happy to share that our judges and staff are now back in our offices full-time, and as promised, we are beginning the process of welcoming back members of the public to our offices.

            If you would like to have your hearing conducted in-person, please alert your sitting judge via a request for telephone conference.  We are presently allowing hearings to proceed in-person only where all parties consent.  Our hearing rooms have been fitted with plexiglass and configured for social distancing. Your judge will be able to discuss other safety protocols during your telephone conference. We are limiting the number of cases that proceed in-person on any given day, so we thank you for your patience and flexibility in picking hearing dates. 

            As always,  if you have any concerns about the status of your pending case, do not hesitate to reach out to the judge’s judicial assistant, or to our clerks, Susan Rogers (Newark) (susan.rogers@oal.nj.gov) or Leslie Sklar (Quakerbridge) (Leslie.sklar@oal.nj.gov).

            On behalf of everyone at the OAL, we thank you for your ongoing support and patience during this very difficult time. We will continue to update you via this website. Stay safe and well.

                                                                                   

                                                Ellen S. Bass

                                                Acting Director and Chief Administrative Law Judge

 

Update—January 4, 2022

 

          Happy New Year from the judges and staff at the OAL. This will update you on our current status – unfortunately, like the rest of the State of New Jersey, our efforts to return to a new normal in 2022 have been derailed by the Omicron variant. At the direction of Governor Murphy, effective December 27, 2021, we returned to a hybrid schedule that has us working in the office two days a weeks, and remotely three days a week. This turn of events is discouraging for all of us; but as always, the health and safety of our entire OAL community remains our priority.

          In the interim, we remain committed to the work we do on behalf of our constituent agencies and our litigants. Each and every OAL employee is fully equipped to work remotely. If you have any concerns about the status of your pending case, do not hesitate to reach out to the judge’s judicial assistant, or to our clerks, Susan Rogers (Newark) (susan.rogers@oal.nj.gov) or Leslie Sklar (Quakerbridge) (Leslie.sklar@oal.nj.gov). Email remains the best way to communicate with us during this crisis, but we are checking snail mail as well.

Once our judges and staff are again back full-time at the OAL, we can better assess how to ensure that we have protocols in place that will allow us to safely resume in-person proceedings. We remain hopeful that some hearings will be conducted in-person in 2022; but again, we will be guided by the CDC, the Department of Health, our Governor, and the pandemic itself.   

          On behalf of everyone at the OAL, we thank you for your ongoing support and patience during this very difficult time. We will continue to update you via this website. Stay safe and well.

                                                                     

                                        Ellen S. Bass

                                        Acting Director and Chief Administrative Law Judge

Update—October 25, 2021

 

          In follow up to our update below, please be advised that our full-time return to our offices has been delayed until November 29, 2021.  As always, the health and safety of our entire OAL community is our priority. We will continue to update you via this website; as always, we will follow the guidance and direction of Governor Murphy.

          We will not be immediately welcoming members of the public back to the OAL and will continue to conduct our proceedings remotely during the 2021 calendar year. Once our judges and staff are back at the OAL, we can better assess how to ensure that we have protocols in place that will allow us to safely resume in-person proceedings. We hope to begin having some hearings in-person beginning in early 2022; but again, we will be guided by the CDC, the Department of Health, our Governor, and the pandemic itself.

          If you have any concerns about the status of your pending case, do not hesitate to reach out to the judge’s judicial assistant, or to our clerks, Susan Rogers (Newark) (susan.rogers@oal.nj.gov) or Leslie Sklar (Quakerbridge) (Leslie.sklar@oal.nj.gov). Email remains the best way to communicate with us during this crisis, but we are checking snail mail as well.

          On behalf of everyone at the OAL, we thank you for your ongoing support and patience. Stay safe and well.

                                                                     

                                        Ellen S. Bass

                                        Acting Director and Chief Administrative Law Judge

Update—October 1, 2021

 

            Fall greetings from the judges and staff at the Office of Administrative Law (OAL).  Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to conduct our proceedings remotely, via telephone and Zoom technology. While we miss seeing you in person, we have adapted well to the unprecedented times we live in.  And we are hearing that many of you appreciate being able to conduct OAL business from the comfort of your home or office. As we look ahead to the end of the pandemic, we have begun to assess where and when we can use what we have learned about technology to create greater efficiencies in the processing of our cases.

            As always, the health and safety of our entire OAL community is our priority. Our judges and staff are currently returning to our OAL offices on a part-time basis. Our return to full-time work in the office is presently scheduled for October 18, 2021. We will continue to update you via this website; as always, we will follow the guidance and direction of Governor Murphy.

            We will not be immediately welcoming members of the public back to the OAL and will continue to conduct our proceedings remotely during the Fall months. Once our judges and staff are back at the OAL, we can better assess how to ensure that we have protocols in place that will allow us to safely resume in-person proceedings. We hope to begin having some hearings in-person late in the Fall or early Winter; but again, we will be guided by the CDC, the Department of Health, our Governor, and the pandemic itself.

            If you have any concerns about the status of your pending case, do not hesitate to reach out to the judge’s judicial assistant, or to our clerks, Susan Rogers (Newark) (susan.rogers@oal.nj.gov) or Leslie Sklar (Quakerbridge) (Leslie.sklar@oal.nj.gov). Email remains the best way to communicate with us during this crisis, but we are checking snail mail as well.

            On behalf of everyone at the OAL, we thank you for your ongoing support and patience. Stay safe and well.

                                                                                   

                                                Ellen S. Bass

                                                Acting Director and Chief Administrative Law Judge