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

Appeals About Issues Decided by State Agency Must Go to the Appellate Division, Not the Law Division

Beaver v. Magellan Health Services, Inc.. 433 N.J. Super. 430 (App. Div. 2013). "Under what circumstances may a litigant pursue common law and statutory causes of action in the Law...

Judges Rothstadt and O'Connor Are Elevated to the Appellate Division

Chief Justice Rabner announced today that Judges Garry S. Rothstadt and Amy O'Connor will be elevated to the Appellate Division effective December 16, 2013. Judge Rothstadt is a graduate of...

Two Signed Not-for-Publication Opinions Issued Today

As noted here, it is highly unusual for Appellate Division not-for-publication opinions to be signed, as opposed to being issued per curiam. Today, however, two of the four opinions issued...

Discovery and Severance

Procopio v. Gov't Employees Ins. Co., 433 N.J. Super. 377 (App. Div. 2013). As Judge Parrillo stated in today's opinion, rulings of trial level judges on discovery matters, and on whether...

Another Important Initiative and Referendum Decision

Redd v. Bowman, 433 N.J. Super. 178 (App. Div. 2013). This is another case that involves the power of citizens of a municipality established under the Faulkner Act, N.J.S.A. 40:69A-1 to -210, to...

Where Intent is at Issue, Summary Judgment is Normally Inappropriate

In re Estate of DeFrank, 433 N.J. Super. 258 (App. Div. 2013). This case involved the question of whether the funds in certain joint bank accounts, which accounts were in...

Child Support for Multiple Families

Harte v. Hand, 433 N.J. Super. 457 (App. Div. 2013). Today's opinion, by Judge Koblitz, in these consolidated cases addresses the circumstance in which a father has child support obligations...

The Requirement of Findings and Conclusions by Trial Level Judges

There are many, many decisions, including this published ruling by Judge Lihotz, that implement the directive of Rule 1:7-4 that a trial judge "shall, by an opinion or memorandum decision, either...

An Important Decision That Has Had Five Years to "Grow" on Everyone

Five years ago today, the Appellate Division decided Grow Company, Inc. v. Chokshi, 403 N.J. Super. 443 (App. Div. 2008). There, Judge Fisher, writing for the panel, produced a seminal...

Residential Development That Includes Mostly Market-Rate Units and Some Affordable Units is Not Inherently Beneficial

Advance at Branchburg, II, LLC v. Branchburg Tp. Bd. of Adj., 433 N.J. Super. 247 (App. Div. 2013). The normal, strict standards for a use variance, as expressed in Medici...

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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....