NJ Appellate Law Blog

A Unique Experience Before the Supreme Court of New Jersey

Today, I had the pleasure of arguing an important case involving choice of law, statute of limitations, and federal preemption issues before the Court. But only one Justice, Justice Lavecchia,...

"What's in a Name?"

Emma v. Evans, 424 N.J. Super. 36 (App. Div. 2012). The title of this post is, unsurprisingly, not my own creation. It is the first line of this opinion by Judge Fisher,...

Supreme Court Reaffirms Rendine, Rejects Perdue v. Kenny A.

Walker v. Giuffre, 209 N.J. 124 (2012). In Walker and Humphries v. Powder Mill Shopping Plaza, two different Appellate Division panels had each ruled that restrictive principles governing attorneys' fee awards under federal fee-shifting statutes, as...

Statute That Does Not Afford Jury Trial for Negligent Property Damage Claim is Unconstitutional

Jersey Central Power & Light Co. v. Melcar Utility Co., 212 N.J. 576 (2013). Article I, paragraph 9 of the New Jersey Constitution provides that "the right to trial by jury shall...

Governor Christie Nominates Two to the Supreme Court

Yesterday, Governor Christie announced his nominations to fill the Supreme Court seat that had been occupied by Justice Wallace and the seat the Justice Long will soon vacate as she turns...

Tort Claims Act Bars Bicyclist's Injury Claim Due to Small Depression in Shoulder of Road

Polzo v. County of Essex, 209 N.J. 151 (2012). Plaintiff's wife was riding with other bicyclists on the shoulder of an Essex County road. She rode over a 1-1/4? depression (a dip in...

Supreme Court Will Review Mediation Settlement Case

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted certification in Willingboro Mall, Ltd. v. 240/242 Franklin Avenue, LLC, 421 N.J. Super. 445 (App. Div. 2011). The decision of the Appellate Division...

An Easy One for the Supreme Court: Plain Statutory Language Controls; Retroactivity Issue Deferred

Selective Ins. Co. v. Rothman, 208 N.J. 580 (2012). The issue in this case, which arose out of the plaintiff insurance company's denial of personal injury protection ("PIP") claims for payment of...

Judge Shwartz's Nomination to the Third Circuit Has Been Stalled

In October, President Obama nominated Judge Shwartz to a seat on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Senator Lautenberg promptly hailed that nomination. Senator Menendez did not. Today, major newspapers...

District Judges Sitting by Designation on Circuit Courts of Appeal

Last week's decision in the Diamond Antitrust case, where an en banc Third Circuit undid a 2-1 panel decision in which a district judge, sitting by designation, was one of the members of...

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In Primary Election Dispute, the Supreme Court Declines to Rewrite Election Laws to Create Remedies Not Afforded by Those Statutes

Johnson v. Wilkerson, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). Chief Justice Rabner's opinion for a unanimous Court follows on the Court's September 19, 2025 Order that upheld a ruling by Judge Sabatino in an emergent appeal by a candidate for a Roselle council seat. That Order stated that an opinion would follow....

Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: Two Well-Known Law Firms Face Off Against Each Other, as Parties

Tomorrow, October 28, judges on Part E of the Appellate Division will hear oral argument in Nagel Rice, LLP v. Starkey, Kelly, Kenneally, Cunningham & Turnbach. It is relatively rare for one law firm to sue another, but that has occurred here....

Two Certified Question Cases From the Third Circuit, and a Related Grant of Leave to Appeal, for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in three new matters. Two of them involve questions certified to the Court by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, under Rule 2:12A. It is relatively rare for the Court to receive, and rarer for it to grant, petitions to decide certified questions, and it appears unprecedented for the Court to have granted review in two such cases at the same time. The other new case is a grant of leave to appeal to address one of the same issues presented in one of the certified question matters....

Still Another Committee on Character Anniversary

This blog has in the past noted anniversaries of Supreme Court decisions involving appeals from the Court's Committee on Character, on which I served for fifteen years. Today is another such anniversary, as on October 22, 1997, the Court decided In re Triffin, 151 N.J. 510 (1997)....