Attorney David Rubin
Dear Monroe Township School District (Middlesex),
This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Records requested:
All invoices from David B. Rubin, P.C., Attorney at Law for legal services rendered in January 2022-March 2022.
All emails between David Rubin and Vito Gagliardi from January 2022-March 2022
All emails between David Rubin and Chrissy Skurbe from January 2022-March 2022
Yours faithfully,
S. Aziz
Dear Ms. Aziz,
The District is in receipt of your request for records under the Open Public Records Act. Specifically, your request sought:
1. All invoices from David B. Rubin, P.C., Attorney at Law for legal services rendered in January 2022-March 2022.
2. All emails between David Rubin and Vito Gagliardi from January 2022-March 2022
3. All emails between David Rubin and Chrissy Skurbe from January 2022-March 2022
Request No. 1: Your request is granted. Attached hereto please find responsive records.
Request No. 2: The District has no records responsive to this request. As a result, your request is denied. See Klock v. Newark Public Schools, GRC Complaint No. 2013-242 (July 2014) (Finding that Custodian properly denied a request where there were no responsive documents); Pusterhofer v. N.J. Dep’t of Education, GRC Complaint No. 2005-49 (July 2005) ("The Custodian has certified that the requested record does not exist. Therefore, the requested record cannot be released and there was no unlawful denial of access").
Request No. 3: Your request is denied as it seeks communications protected by the attorney-client privilege. OPRA expressly exempts from the definition of a government record “any record within the attorney-client privilege.” N.J.S.A. 47:1A–1.1. The attorney-client privilege has been codified in New Jersey, by both statute and rule, the terms of which are identical. The statute and rule provide, in relevant part, that "communications between lawyer and his client in the course of that relationship and in professional confidence, are privileged." N.J.S.A. 2A:84A–20(1); N.J.R.E. 504.