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

Summary Action to "Enforce Agency Orders" Cannot Proceed Where Agency Has Not Ordered Specific Relief

Bacon v. New Jersey State Dep't of Education, 443 N.J. Super. 24 (App. Div. 2015). Many of us know about so-called "Abbott school districts," districts in economically distressed urban areas...

How to Terminate a Contract for Sale of Residential Real Estate

Conley v. Guerrero, 443 N.J. Super. 62 (App. Div. 2015). As a result of a settlement in New Jersey State Bar Ass'n v. New Jersey Ass'n of Realtor Bds., 93...

Another Attempt to Compel Arbitration Based on Inadequate and Unclear Documents Fails

Barr v. Bishop Rosen & Co., Inc., 442 N.J. Super. 599 (App. Div. 2015). Both before and after Atalese v. U.S. Legal Servs. Grp., L.P., 219 N.J. 430 (2014), cert....

A Controversial Height Variance Falls

Jacoby v. Englewood Cliffs Bd. of Adj., 442 N.J. Super. 450 (App. Div. 2015). At least since North Bergen Action Group v. North Bergen Tp. Planning Bd., 122 N.J. 567...

Qualified Immunity for Funeral Directors

Gately v. Hamilton Memorial Home, Inc., 442 N.J. Super. 542 (App. Div. 2015). Apart from funeral directors, their attorneys, and a small number of judges, it's likely that few people...

An Easy Statutory Interpretation Ruling, With Bonus Analysis of Declaratory Judgment and Joinder Issues

Williams v. Borough of Clayton, 442 N.J. Super. 583 (App. Div. 2015). N.J.S.A. 40A:14-129 and -130 mandate that an officer seeking promotions to "superior position[s]"in police departments in smaller municipalities...

The Fifth Anniversary of New Jersey Appellate Law Blog

Today is the fifth anniversary of this blog. It has been another interesting year of covering the Supreme Court of New Jersey, the Appellate Division, and the Third Circuit, with...

What is a "Building"?

Cashin v. Bello, 223 N.J. 328 (2015). The cardinal principle of statutory interpretation is that plain language controls and ends the need for any further inquiry. In this opinion by...

Tolling of Time Due to This Week's Justice Complex Closures

Yesterday, October 1, and the day before, September 30, the Supreme Court Clerk's Office, the Appellate Division Clerk's Office, and other Clerk's Offices in the Hughes Justice Complex in Trenton...

Justice Fernandez-Vina Will be Temporarily Absent

The Supreme Court announced yesterday that Justice Fernandez-Vina recently had eye surgery and is scheduled for another operation "in the near future" as well. Accordingly, he will not be participating...

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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....