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

Three More Judges Temporarily Assigned to the Appellate Division

Orders of Chief Justice Rabner that temporarily assigned three judges to the Appellate Division, in addition to any other assignments, were released on Friday, April 10. The three judges are...

Another Failure to Act by COAH, and Another Court Gives a COAH Power to the Courts Instead

In re Failure of the Council on Affordable Housing to Adopt Trust Fund Commitment Regulations, 440 N.J. Super. 220 (App. Div. 2015). The Fair Housing Act, N.J.S.A. 52:27D-329.2(a), states that...

Supreme Court Will Review Mortgage Grader, Inc. v. Ward & Olivo, LLP

The Supreme Court announced late yesterday that it has granted certification to review Mortgage Grader, Inc. v. Ward & Olivo, LLP, 438 N.J. Super. 202 (App. Div. 2014). The decision of the...

The Appellate Division Addresses a "Rehash"

New Jersey Healthcare Coalition v. New Jersey Dep't of Banking & Insurance, 440 N.J. Super. 129 (App. Div. 2015). According to today's opinion by Judge Reisner, every few years "health...

A Tour (De Force) Through the Evidence Rules as Applied to Expert Testimony

James v. Ruiz, 440 N.J. Super. 45 (App. Div. 2015). This opinion by Judge Sabatino is like the law school evidence class that some of us wish we had taken....

The Supreme Court Revisits the Constitutionality of the Redevelopment Law

62-64 Main Street, LLC v. Hackensack Mayor & Council, 221 N.J. 129 (2015). The Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-1 to -73, defines when an area is blighted and...

The Appellate Division Discusses Three Rules of Evidence

Parker v. Poole, 440 N.J. Super. 7 (App. Div. 2015). Appellate decisions that explicate rules of evidence are not frequent. Today's opinion in this case, written by Judge Hoffman, is such...

Severance of and Discovery Regarding UIM and Bad Faith Claims

Wacker-Ciocco v. Gov't Employees Ins. Co., 439 N.J. Super. 603 (App. Div. 2015). In Procopio v. Gov't Employees Ins. Co., 433 N.J. Super. 377 (App. Div. 2013), discussed here, the...

A Supreme Court Opinion About Net Opinions

Townsend v. Pierre, 221 N.J. 36 (2015). In this opinion, issued yesterday, the Supreme Court reversed a ruling of the Appellate Division. The Appellate Division's decision was discussed here. The...

A "Case of First Impression": Who Bears the Cost of a Special School Election?

In re December 9, 2014 Special School Election, 439 N.J. Super. 416 (App. Div. 2015). The City of Cape May sought to withdraw from a limited purpose school district that...

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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....