NJ Appellate Law Blog – NJ Appellate Lawyer Bruce D. Greenberg blogs about Appeals and Appellate Law Practice

PERC Cannot Unilaterally Abandon the "Dynamic Status Quo Doctrine"

In re County of Atlantic, 445 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2016). The Public Employment Relations Commission ("PERC") is a state agency that is charged by the Legislature with implementing...

Attorney General May Not Enforce Subpoenas Related to False Claims Act Case in Which Attorney General Previously Declined to Intervene

In re Enforcement of New Jersey False Claims Act Subpoenas, 444 N.J. Super. 566 (App. Div. 2016). The New Jersey False Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:32C-1 to -15, -17, and -18...

By What Means Can a Creditor Seize Certificated Securities Held by a Debtor?: A UCC Article 8 Decision

Wolverine Flagship Fund Trading Limited v. American Oriental Bioengineering, Inc., 444 N.J. Super. 530 (App. Div. 2016). This opinion, issued today by Judge St. John, involved the denial of injunctive...

February 29: An Anniversary in Civil Rights Act Law

February 29 comes around only every four years (all right, every four years except for certain years that end in double zeros). February 29 was the birthdate of Frederic, the...

New Mother's Failure to Tell Hospital Staff That She Had Used Certain Medication During Pregnancy Constituted Child Abuse or Neglect

New Jersey Division of Child Protection & Permanency v. K.M., 444 N.J. Super. 325 (App. Div. 2016). This is another child abuse and neglect appeal, but one that contains an...

Does a Homeowners Insurance Policy That Covers Losses from "Hidden Decay" Protect Against Loss From "Hidden Defects"?

Bardis v. Stinson, 444 N.J. Super. 448 (App. Div. 2016). This insurance coverage matter is a case with an unusual sequence of appellate events. The case was argued before the...

Proposed Changes to New Jersey Appellate Rules

The Supreme Court has published for comments the report of its Civil Practice Committee. The report is available here. The Committee has proposed revisions to three appellate rules. There are...

Insurer Under "Claims Made" Policy Issued to Sophisticated Insured Need Not Show Prejudice From Late Notice of Claim in Order to Disclaim Coverage

Templo Fuente De Vida Corp. v. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co., 224 N.J. 189 (2016). Insurance policies normally require insureds to provide timely notice of claims against them to their...

Interlocutory vs. Final Administrative Agency Decisions

Silviera-Francisco v. Elizabeth Bd. of Educ., 224 N.J. 126 (2016). "Whether a trial court order is final or interlocutory has bedeviled courts and attorneys for decades." So said Judge Cuff...

Berry Unfortunate for Plaintiff, But Slip and Fall Claim Fails

Troupe v. Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp., 443 N.J. Super. 596 (App. Div. 2016). Today, Judge Suter authored her first published opinion for the Appellate Division. While shopping at a...

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"Hot Fun in the Summertime": Appellate Division Summer Parts

In an Order available here, Chief Justice Rabner announced the lineup for the Appellate Division's summer Parts. As has been customary, the "summer" runs not between the meteorological start and end dates for summer, nor from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but from June 16 through September 7....

The Supreme Court Confirms That Municipalities Can be Subjected to Sanctions for Frivolous Litigation

Borough of Englewood Cliffs v. Trautner, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). This appeal presented the question of whether municipalities can be liable to pay sanctions for frivolous litigation, under the Frivolous Litigation Statute, N.J.S.A. 2A:15-59.1 ("the FLS"). In a 5-0 opinion written by Justice Fasciale (Chief Justice Rabner and Justice Hoffman did not participate), the Court affirmed, as modified, the decision of the Appellate Division that upheld the Law Division's imposition of FLS sanctions against the Borough....

The "Castle Doctrine"

State v. Bragg, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). A jury found defendant guilty of twelve charged counts, including attempted murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, terroristic threats, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, endangering, and two lesser-included offenses of harassment. Some of those charges involved the use of deadly force. Persons may not use deadly force if the can retreat with complete safety. But under the "castle doctrine," an exception to the general rule, a person "is not obliged to retreat from his dwelling, unless he was the initial aggressor." N.J.S.A. 2C:3-4(b)(2)(b)(i). That doctrine derives from the common law....

No Arbitrariness in Rejection of Public Construction Bid That Failed to Include a Properly Signed, Required Consent of Surety

In the Matter of Protest Filed by El Sol Contracting and Construction Corp., Contract T100.638, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). This public bidding case resulted in a 5-2 split at the Supreme Court, the first non-unanimous ruling of the current Term. Justice Hoffman wrote the majority opinion, while Justice Fasciale authored the dissent for himself and Justice Pierre-Louis....