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

OPRA Requests Must Seek "Records," Not "Information"

Burke v. Brandes, 429 N.J. Super. 169 (App. Div. 2012). This opinion, by Judge Parrillo, addresses an Open Public Records Act ("OPRA") request made to the Office of the Governor for government records regarding...

Governor Christie Nominates Two to the Supreme Court

Governor Christie announced today that he was nominating Robert Hanna and Judge David Bauman to fill the two Supreme Court seats now occupied by temporarily-assigned judges of the Appellate Division....

Damage Claims Against Port Authority Barred Because Plaintiff Had Not Given Pre-Suit Notice

Santiago v. New York & New Jersey Port Authority, 429 N.J. Super. 150 (App. Div. 2012). N.J.S.A. 32:1-163 states that "in the case of any suit, action or proceeding for the recovery...

Draft Agency Report is Absolutely Protected From Disclosure Under Open Public Records Act; Government Records Council May Not Decide Common Law Right of Access Claims

Ciesla v. New Jersey Dep't of Health & Senior Services, 429 N.J. Super. 127 (App. Div. 2012). This was an appeal of a decision of the Government Records Council ("GRC"), the state...

In re Mathesius

As part of its constitutional duty to administer all courts in New Jersey, the Supreme Court sometimes finds it necessary to discipine judges. On this date in 2006, the Court...

Conflicting Unpublished Opinions Lead to a Published Decision

Badiali v. New Jersey Manufacturers Ins. Group., 429 N.J. Super. 121 (App. Div. 2012). As Judge Fisher noted at the start of his opinion, the Appellate Division previously ruled, in a case...

General Contractor Found Not Liable for Injuries to Subcontractor's Employee

Tarabokia v. Structure Tone, 429 N.J. Super. 103 (App. Div. 2012). "The issue is whether, under the circumstances presented, the general or prime contractor has a duty to ensure the safety of...

Standing is Not Jurisdictional in New Jersey State Court

Deutsche Bank Nat'l Trust Co. v. Russo, 429 N.J. Super. 91 (App. Div. 2012). This was another mortgage foreclosure case in which defendants belatedly asserted that plaintiff lacked standing because plaintiff was...

City Not Liable for Partial Demolition of Burning Building Where Necessary to Fight the Fire

Crystal Ice-Bridgeton, LLC v. City of Bridgeton, 428 N.J. Super. 576 (App. Div. 2012). Plaintiff's building caught fire. Bridgeton firefighters responded and were at the site for nine hours. While the fire...

"The Last 100 Feet Leading to a Polling Place Belong to the Voters on Election Day"

Since today is Election Day, it is an especially appropriate time to revisit the Supreme Court's decision in In re Attorney General's "Directive on Exit Polling: Media and Non-Partisan Public Interest...

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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....