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

Judge Barry Steps Away

The Associated Press has reported that Judge Barry has decided to go on inactive status. According to Chief Judge Smith, Judge Barry will be giving up her chambers and staff....

The Third Circuit Will Post Video of Certain Oral Arguments

Last Friday, the Third Circuit announced that it will begin to post on its website, www.ca3,uscourts.gov, "videos of oral arguments in select cases," more specifically, those that are "deemed to...

Circuit Court Appeals Are (Slightly) Down, While Reversals Are (Slightly) Up

An analysis issued yesterday by the Judiciary and Data Analysis Office of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts revealed some interesting information about and trends in federal appeals....

Mandatory Electronic Filing of Pretrial Detention Appeals Begins on January 1, 2017

This morning, the Appellate Division issued a Notice to the Bar, available here, to remind practitioners and appellants that, effective on January 1, 2017, appeals to the Appellate Division on...

"On the Road Again": The Appellate Division Will Hear Arguments in Freehold Next Week

The Appellate Division normally hears oral arguments in Newark, Trenton, Hackensack, and Morristown. Every so often, however, the Appellate Division takes its show on the road to other venues. Today,...

Two Appellate Division Judges are Nominated for Tenure

Governor Christie has nominated eighteen judges for tenure after their initial seven-year terms. Two of those judges currently sit in the Appellate Division. They are judges Gibbons Whipple and Vernoia....

Appellate Division Oral Argument Dates and Attorney Vacations

The Appellate Division issued a Notice to the Bar today regarding oral argument in that court. That Notice, titled "Oral Argument in the Appellate Division," is available here. The Notice...

Appellate Division Statistics, 2015-16

At last week's NJSBA Appellate Practice Committee meeting, which featured a talk about ethics in appellate practice, statistics for the 2015-16 Appellate Division term were presented. Those statistics are generally...

A New Third Circuit Chief Judge

As of October 1, Judge Smith has succeeded Judge McKee as Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge McKee has been Chief Judge since 2010, succeeding Judge Scirica in...

Third Circuit Forms a Task Force on Eyewitness Identifications

Chief Judge McKee has announced the formation of a Task Force on Eyewitness Identifications. This seventeen-member body will be co-chaired by Chief Judge McKee and Judge Mitchell Goldberg of the United...

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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....