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

Non-Conforming Structure That is More Than "Partially" Destroyed Cannot be Rebuilt Without a Variance

Motley v. Seaside Park Bd. of Adj., 430 N.J. Super. 132 (App. Div. 2013). N.J.S.A. 40:55D-68 allows a non-conforming use or structure to be "restored or repaired in the event of partial...

Respondents Have a Duty to Move to Dismiss Improper Appeals

Normally, when the Appellate Division perceives that a purported appeal as of right, which must be from a final judgment, is in fact an interlocutory appeal from a non-final judgment,...

A Smorgasbord, Courtesy of Judge Fisher: Subject Matter Jurisdiction, Personal Jurisdiction, Forum Non Conveniens, and Service of Process

Tatham v. Tatham, 429 N.J. Super. 502 (App. Div. 2013). It is not often that a family law opinion touches on so many fundamental procedural issues. This opinion by Judge Fisher addresses...

A Rarity: The Appellate Division Affirms a Dismissal With Prejudice for Discovery Misconduct

Rymarkiewicz v. UMDNJ, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2013). Our courts, especially the appellate courts, bend over backwards to avoid dismissing cases for a party's failure to make discovery....

A Class Action Plaintiff Must be a Member of the Class That He or She Seeks to Represent

Rosen v. Continental Airlines, Inc., 430 N.J. Super. 97 (App. Div. 2013). The holding of this decision affirmed a defense motion to dismiss this putative class action case for failure to state a claim. Plaintiff had...

Editorial: It's Time to Take Up Governor Christie's Supreme Court Nominations

On December 10, 2012, Governor Christie nominated Robert Hanna, currently the Director of the Board of Public Utilties, and Judge David Bauman of the Superior Court of Monmouth County, to...

The Decline of Oral Argument in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals

Howard Bashman, who writes the How Appealing blog, has written a very instructive article about how oral argument in the Third Circuit has become increasingly rare since the court year that ended...

Supreme Court Will Review In re Ehrlich's Estate

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification to review the decision of the Appellate Division in In re Estate of Richard Ehrlich, 427 N.J. Super. 64 (App. Div....

Four More Judges Temporarily Assigned to the Appellate Division

In Orders published yesterday, Chief Justice Rabner temporarily assigned four trial level judges to four different Parts of the Appellate Division. All four of the assignments run from February 25, 2013...

A Court Cannot Find "Abuse" or "Neglect" of Child Where Mother Used Drugs During Pregnancy But No Harm Resulted to the Child

Division of Youth & Family Servs. v. A.L., 213 N.J. 1 (2013). When A.L. was admitted to the hospital to give birth to her son, A.D., she tested positive for cocaine. The...

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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....