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

A Class Action Settlement Class is Reversed for Lack of Adequate Representation, But the Third Circuit Explains How to Cure the Problem

Dewey v. Volkswagen, A.G., 681 F.3d 170 (3d Cir. 2012). This class action case involved allegations that Volkswagen vehicles had defective sunroofs that allowed water to infiltrate into the interior of the...

The GM Trucks Class Action Case

On this date in 1995, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals decided In re General Motors Corp. Pick-Up Truck Fuel Tank Products Liab. Litig., 55 F.3d 768 (3d Cir. 1995)....

Law of the Case Doctrine Applied in a Complex Class Action

Little v. Kia Motors America, Inc., 425 N.J. Super. 82 (App. Div. 2012). In this consumer class action, which involved alleged defects in Kia automobiles, Judge #1 presided over a classwide jury trial. The...

A Wise Decision on Class Arbitration

Sutter v. Oxford Health Plans, LLC, 675 F.3d 215 (3d Cir. 2012). Decisions in favor of class arbitration may seem to be few and far between these days. But in this case,...

An Important (Though Currently Unpublished) New Class Action Opinion

Wenger v. Cardo Windows, Inc., 2012 WL 280254 (App. Div. Feb. 1, 2012). Plaintiffs in this consumer class action sought injunctive relief and statutory civil penalties against defendants in connection...

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...

A Webinar on Which I Spoke Today

Today, I was one of two panelists on a webinar entitled "Class Action Settlement Objectors: Minimizing and Defending Challenges by Professional Objectors, Government Officials and Public Interest Groups." My topic...

Third Circuit, En Banc, Affirms Settlement of Diamond Antitrust Class Action

Sullivan v. DB Investments, Inc., 667 F.3d 273 (3d Cir. 2011). By a 7-2 vote, the Third Circuit, sitting en banc, disagreed with a panel decision (613 F.3d 134 (3d Cir. 2010)), vacated...

Weiss v. Regal Ban on "Picking Off" Named Plaintiff in Class Action Extends to FLSA Opt-In Cases

Symczyk v. Genesis Healthcare Corp., 656 F.3d 189 (3d Cir. 2011). In Weiss v. Regal Collections, 385 F.3d 337 (3d Cir. 2004), the Third Circuit held that a defendant in a class action could...

The Third Circuit Adopts Concepcion and Finds Muhammad Superseded By It

Litman v. Cellco Partnership, 655 F.3d 225 (3d Cir. 2011). In AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011), a 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court of the United States rejected...

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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....