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

A Decision of First Impression: Tort Liability for Injuries in Youth Sports

C.J.R. v. G.A., 438 N.J. Super. 387 (App. Div. 2014). Near the end of a closely-contested lacrosse game in a youth recreational league for less advanced players, a twelve-year-old player suffered a fractured arm after an eleven-year-old...

"Brown" Wins a Tax Penalty Appeal in the Supreme Court

United Parcel Service Gen. Servs. Co. v. Director, Div. of Taxation, 220 N.J. 90 (2014). This per curiam decision of the Supreme Court today affirmed an Appellate Division decision, written by Judge...

Co-Op Owner Has Free Speech Right to Leaflet as Part of Campaign for Co-Op Board Seat

Dublirer v. 2000 Linwood Avenue Owners, Inc., 220 N.J. 71 (2014). In State v. Schmid, 84 N.J. 585 (1980), and New Jersey Coalition Against War in the Middle East v....

Writing a Persuasive Introductory Statement: A Lesson From Judge Reisner

Moran v. Board of Trustees, Police & Firemen's Retirement System, 438 N.J. Super. 346 (App. Div. 2014). This appeal was by a firefighter who sought an accidental disability retirement pension under...

Immunity for Actions of Hospital Internal Review Committees

Hurwitz v. AHS Hospital Corp., 438 N.J. Super. 269 (App. Div. 2014). The Healthcare Quality Improvement Act of 1986 ("HCQIA"), 42 U.S.C. §§11111-11112, creates an immunity from damages claims arising...

Judge Gibbons Whipple Continues on Part G of the Appellate Division

As reported here, Judge Gibbons Whipple was previously elevated to the Appellate Division, to serve on Part G, for a term extending from September 15, 2014 through November 23, 2014. Today,...

No Sufficient Findings Below, So No Appellate Ruling on Constitutional Challenge to Advance Voter Registration Statute

Rutgers University Student Assembly v. Middlesex Cty. Bd. of Elections, 438 N.J. Super. 93 (App. Div. 2014). Plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of N.J.S.A. 19:31-6.3b, which, as Judge Haas described it...

Collateral Estoppel, Law of the Case, and Some Evidence Issues

L.T. v. F.M., 438 N.J. Super. 76 (App. Div. 2014). This case began with plaintiff obtaining a final restraining order ("FRO") against defendant in the Family Part because defendant had...

A "Tail" Insurance Tale

Mortgage Grader, Inc. v. Ward & Olivo, LLP, 438 N.J. Super. 202 (App. Div. 2014). In the legal malpractice context, a "tail" insurance policy is one that "provides insurance coverage for malpractice...

What Are the Odds (of Getting Any Given Appellate Division Judge on an Appeal)?

In an article in Tuesday's New York Times, Adam Liptak reported that opponents of same-sex marriage are challenging the composition of Ninth Circuit panels that have heard cases involving gay...

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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....