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

Supreme Court Grants Review of Hoffman v. Supplements Togo

Today, the Supreme Court announced that it had granted certification to review the Appellate Division's decision in Hoffman v. Supplements Togo Management, LLC, 419 N.J. Super. 596 (App. Div. 2011). The...

Judges May Not Enter Final Judgment and Defer Their Opinions and Reasons Until Later

Ducey v. Ducey, 424 N.J. Super. 80 (App. Div. 2012). After a fourteen-day trial, a Family Part judge entered a judgment of divorce and stated that "the underlying opinion will be sent shortly."...

An Important (Though Currently Unpublished) New Class Action Opinion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...

Warrant Required for Municipal Inspector to Enter Premises

State v. Heine, 424 N.J. Super. 48 (App. Div. 2012). Ellen Heine, the owner of a property in Garfield, was found guilty in municipal court of violating provisions of the Garfield property maintenance code....

Five New Temporary Assignments to the Appellate Division

Effective January 23, 2012, and continuing through April 13, 2012, Judge Allison Accurso, who had been the Presiding Judge, General Equity, Somerset County, has been temporarily assigned to Part C of the...

A Unique Experience Before the Supreme Court of New Jersey

Today, I had the pleasure of arguing an important case involving choice of law, statute of limitations, and federal preemption issues before the Court. But only one Justice, Justice Lavecchia,...

"What's in a Name?"

Emma v. Evans, 424 N.J. Super. 36 (App. Div. 2012). The title of this post is, unsurprisingly, not my own creation. It is the first line of this opinion by Judge Fisher,...

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...

Statute That Does Not Afford Jury Trial for Negligent Property Damage Claim is Unconstitutional

Jersey Central Power & Light Co. v. Melcar Utility Co., 212 N.J. 576 (2013). Article I, paragraph 9 of the New Jersey Constitution provides that "the right to trial by jury shall...

Tort Claims Act Bars Bicyclist's Injury Claim Due to Small Depression in Shoulder of Road

Polzo v. County of Essex, 209 N.J. 151 (2012). Plaintiff's wife was riding with other bicyclists on the shoulder of an Essex County road. She rode over a 1-1/4? depression (a dip in...

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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....