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

No Temporary Disability Payments for Unemployed Volunteer Firefighter

Kocanowski v. Bridgewater Tp., 452 N.J. Super. 476 (App. Div. 2017). Plaintiff was a volunteer firefighter in Bridgewater. She slipped on ice while responding to a fire and was injured...

A Pro Se Prisoner Invalidates the Department of Corrections's Outbound Calling Policy, But …

Grimes v. New Jersey Dep't of Corrections, 452 N.J. Super. 396 (App. Div. 2017). This appeal, decided today, had two unusual wrinkles, apart from its substantive outcome. First, a pro...

The Supreme Court Grants Review in Five More Cases

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in five more cases. One of those is a land use matter. The other four run the gamut from administrative law...

The Supreme Court Will Decide an Administrative Law Standard of Review Issue and a Ruling Involving PIP Benefits

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in two new cases. The first is In re William R. Hendrickson, Jr. The question presented there, as phrased by the...

A Marijuana Case Likely Headed for the Supreme Court

Kadonsky v. Lee, 452 N.J. Super. 198 (App. Div. 2017). In this appeal, plaintiff petitioned the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs ("the Division") to have marijuana rescheduled from a...

Election Law Enforcement Commission Can Pursue Complaint Against Essex County Executive

New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission v. DiVincenzo, 451 N.J. Super. 554 (App. Div. 2017). In 2011, the New Jersey Election Law Commission ("ELEC"), an independent four-member body that enforces...

A 2015 Amendment to the Unemployment Insurance Statute is Construed Favorably to a Claimant

McClain v. Board of Review, 451 N.J. Super. 461 (App. Div. 2017). In general, employees who leave work voluntarily are disqualified from obtaining unemployment benefits. In 2015, the unemployment statute,...

Two Opinions in Two Days by Justice Solomon

In re Atlantic County, 230 N.J. 237 (2017); In re New Jersey Firemens Association Obligation to Provide Relief Application Under Open Public Records Act, 230 N.J. 258 (2017). On Wednesday...

Ex Post Facto Constitutional Issues, Workers Compensation Jurisdiction, and Municipal Land Use Are Added to the Supreme Court's Docket

The Supreme Court has granted certification to review three more appeals. The first of those actually consists of four cases that have been consolidated under the lead case, State v....

No Property Tax Exemption for Disabled Veteran Whose Injuries Did Not Occur "In a Theater of Operation"

Fisher v. City of Millville, 450 N.J. Super. 610 (App. Div. 2017). Article VIII, section 1, paragraph 3 of the New Jersey Constitution allows the Legislature to enact legislation that...

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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....