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

Recreational Marijuana Use, Standing Alone, Cannot be the "Sole or Primary" Basis for Termination of Parental Rights Unless Use Endangers a Child

New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency v. D.H., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). This case comprised two related appeals. Two biological parents saw their parental rights...

A Practical Interpretation of the Statute Banning Concealment or Obscuring Markings on Automobile License Plates

State v. Carter, ___ N.J. ___ (2021); State v. Roman-Rosado, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). These two consolidated appeals, in which Chief Justice Rabner authored a unanimous opinion issued today, dealt...

The Anniversary of New Jersey's Adoption of the "Heeding Presumption" in Failure to Warn Cases

On this date in 1993, the Supreme Court decided Coffman v. Keene Corp., 133 N.J. 581 (1993). This was a case brought by an asbestos worker. As Justice Handler, writing...

Three From the Third Circuit

The Third Circuit issued three published opinions in one day earlier this week. Here are summaries: Dondero v. Lower Milford Tp., ___ F.4th ___ (3d Cir. 2021). Plaintiff filed a...

Two From the Appellate Division (Both by Judge Hoffman)

Kravitz v. Murphy, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021); Johnson v. McClellan, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). The Kravitz case, in which Judge Hoffman authored the panel's...

This Week in the Appellate Division

The Appellate Division issued four published opinions this week (two on Monday and two yesterday). Here are summaries of those rulings: Wilhelm v. Ryder Logistics & Transportation Solutions, ___ N.J....

Complaint-Summonses From a Municipal Police Department Can be Obtained Under the Open Public Records Acts

Simmons v. Mercado, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). Justice Pierre-Louis issued this unanimous opinion for the Supreme Court today. The issue was "whether a records request for complaint-summonses from a municipal...

Reversing the Appellate Division, the Supreme Court Adopts the "Ongoing Storm Rule"

Pareja v. Princeton International Properties, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). This 5-2 decision addressed the "ongoing storm rule," which Justice Fernandez-Vina's majority opinion defined as a doctrine "under which a landowner...

Adverse Employment Action Not Required for Law Against Discrimination Claim

Richter v. Oakland Bd. of Educ., ___ N.J. ___ (2021). Justice LaVecchia wrote the opinion in this important Law Against Discrimination ("LAD") case for a unanimous Court. There were two...

Ancillary Settlement Jurisdiction

Butt v. United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2021). This opinion by Judge Hardiman involved an attorneys' fee dispute. In the underlying consolidated...

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The "Limited Attorney Exemption" of the Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act is Held Unconstitutional as Violative of the Separation of Powers and Void for Vagueness

Anchor Law Firm, PLLC v. State of New Jersey, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). The Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act, N.J.S.A. 17:16G-1 et seq. ("DACCA"), prohibits debt adjusters in New Jersey from operating for a profit. There is an exception for attorneys not "principally engaged" (a term not defined in the statute) in debt adjustment. That exception, adopted in a 1986 amendment, replaced a prior version of the DACCA that had exempted all attorneys from its scope....

Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: Where a Party Files a Suit Alleged to Violate the UPEPA But Quickly Dismisses It, Can Defendants Then Get Counsel Fees Under the Statute?

On May 15, judges on Part C of the Appellate Division will hear oral argument in Satz v. Keshet Starr. Plaintiff, acting pro se, filed a defamation suit against defendants. Defendants filed an o order to show cause to dismiss the case and for attorneys' fees under the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-49 et seq. ("UPEPA"). The UPEPA, enacted in 2023, sought to make it more difficult to use the legal system as a weapon to bully individuals into silence by filing what have been known as SLAPP ("strategic lawsuits against public participation") suits....

"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....