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

Condemning Authority Need Not Negotiate With Party Other Than Record Title Holder

Borough of Merchantville v. Malik & Son, LLC, 429 N.J. Super. 116 (App. Div. 2013). In this condemnation case, one of the defendants, LB-RPR REO Holdings, LLC ("LB"), the assignee of a...

A Lesson About Stipulations of Dismissal and Motions for Voluntary Dismissal

Burns v. Hoboken Rent Leveling & Stabilization Bd., 429 N.J. Super. 435 (App. Div. 2013). This was a prerogative writ case involving rent control. Plaintiffs were tenants in a building owned by...

2010 Amendment to Statute of Frauds Can Apply to Palimony Agreements Made Prior to Amendment's Effective Date

Maeker v. Ross, 430 N.J. Super. 79 (App. Div. 2013). In 2010, the Legislature amended the Statute of Frauds, N.J.S.A. 25:1-5(h), to cover "palimony" agreements, that is, "[a] promise by one party to...

"Equity Will Find a Way"

Estate of Murray v. Spiegle, 429 N.J. Super. 378 (App. Div. 2013). Judge Fisher, who sat in the Chancery Division before being elevated to the Appellate Division, wrote this opinion for a unanimous...

Arbitrator's Decision That the State Must, Against Its Will, Pay Part of Camden Firefighters' Salaries, is Reversed

In re City of Camden and International Ass'n of Firefighters, Local 788, 429 N.J. Super. 309 (App. Div. 2013). For over ten years, the City of Camden has been in such dire...

Res Ipsa Loquitur

Mayer v. Once Upon a Rose, Inc., 429 N.J. Super. 365 (App. Div. 2013). An employee of defendant, a florist, who was setting up floral arrangements for an engagement party, allegedly gripped a...

A Tip for Appellants, and One for Respondents/Appellees

Ethypharm S.A. Fr. v. Abbott Labs., 707 F.3d 223 (3d Cir. 2013). This is an antitrust standing case. The Third Circuit's opinion, written by Judge Jordan, found that plaintiff had...

The Right to Amend, and Relation Back

Prime Accounting Dep't v. Carney's Point Tp., 212 N.J. 403 (2013). This tax appeal case came about because the defendant municipality's tax assessment list showed plaintiff as the owner of the subject...

Interpreting an Indemnification Clause Cannot "Make a Fortress Out of The Elements of Style"

Sayles v. G&G Hotels, Inc., 429 N.J. Super. 266 (App. Div. 2013). This case involved the interpretation of an indemnification clause. In his opinion for the panel, Judge Fisher unpacked a "complex" provision...

An Appellate Pro Bono Win

Mastropole v. Giunta, 2012 N.J. Super. LEXIS 86 (App. Div. Jan. 15, 2013). This is a contract case that my colleague Marissa L. Quigley and I handled under the Appellate Division's...

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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....