The New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed a judge’s order, which denied the plaintiff’s application under the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) to compel the defendants to produce privileged documents and awarded the plaintiff counsel fees. The dispute underlying the OPRA litigation regards zoning determinations and ordinances adopted in the City of Hackensack’s redevelopment plan, the subject of two separate lawsuits involving these parties. On appeal, the plaintiff argued the judge erred by not releasing an email on the grounds of attorney-client privilege. The plaintiff contended the defendants waived the privilege by including a third party in the email. The plaintiff also challenged the judge’s calculation of counsel fees. On cross-appeal, the defendants argued the judge should not have awarded counsel fees because the plaintiff did not prevail or demonstrate the documents were released because of the lawsuit. First, the Appellate Division ruled that the email was privileged because it communicated legal advice about the underlying planning board and zoning ordinance litigation to city officials as a group and included the financial planner in his official capacity. Second, the Court held that “the judge performed a qualitative analysis of the plaintiff’s counsel’s billing in reducing the lodestar figure.”