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

As the End of the Term Nears, The Supreme Court Takes Two More Cases

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in two more cases. In Zimmerman v. Sussex County Educational Services Commission, the question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court...

No Attorneys' Fees for Retired Public Employee Who Successfully Sued to Enforce Agency Decision Regarding His Pension

Brunt v. Board of Trustees, Police & Firemen's Retirement System, 455 N.J. Super. 357 (App. Div. 2018). In general, except as specified by statute, court rule, or a contract between...

The TCCWNA and Towing Companies

Pisack v. B&C Towing, Inc., 455 N.J. Super. 225 (App. Div. 2018). This decision by Judge Gilson today in three consolidated appeals implicates the Predatory Towing Prevention Act, N.J.S.A. 56:13-7...

Slightly Different Facts Produce Opposite Results in Two Somewhat Similar Cases

Bowser v. Board of Trustees, Police and Firemens Retirement System, 455 N.J. Super. 165 (App. Div. 2018); Mattia v. Board of Trustees, Police and Firemens Retirement System, 455 N.J. Super....

Entire Controversy Doctrine Inapplicable to Teacher Tenure Charge

Yarborough v. State Operated School District of the City of Newark, 455 N.J. Super. 136 (App. Div. 2018). Plaintiff, a third-grade teacher in the Newark public schools, faced a conduct-unbecoming...

Complaint as to Issuance of Bonds for Statehouse Renovation Was Moot, But Failed on the Merits Regardless

Wisniewski v. Murphy, 454 N.J. Super. 508 (App. Div. 2018). In 2017, the State Capitol Joint Management Commission ("JMC") resolved to renovate the Statehouse, the building that houses (among other...

No Accidental Disability Benefits for Teacher Who Alleged Mental Disability as a Result of Three Incidents of Physical Contact at Work

Thompson v. Baord of Trustees, Teachers' Pension & Annuity Fund, 233 N.J. 232 (2018). As discussed here, this case came before the Supreme Court by virtue of a dissent in...

ACLU v. Hendricks Goes Back to the Secretary of Higher Education to Develop a Full Administrative Record

American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey v. Hendricks, 233 N.J. 181 (2018). In 2016, in a decision reported at 445 N.J. Super. 452 (App. Div. 2016), and discussed here,...

State Agency's "Contumacious" Discovery Failures Over Many Years Called for Dismissal of Agency's License Suspension Proceeding

New Jersey Department of Children & Families v. E.L., 454 N.J. Super. 10 (App. Div. 2018). Courts often give public entity parties more leeway in complying with rules, court orders,...

Government "Cannot Erect Technological Barriers to Deny Access to Government Records That Were Previously Available Under OPRA"

Conley v. New Jersey Department of Corrections, 452 N.J. Super. 605 (App. Div. 2018). This was an appeal brought by a pro se prisoner under the Open Public Records Act,...

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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....