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

The Senate Confirms Judge Fasciale and Rachel Wainer Apter for Supreme Court Seats

As expected, on Monday of this week, while I was out of action, the full Senate confirmed Governor Murphy's two nominees to the Supreme Court. Judge Fasciale received a unanimous...

A Motion to Dismiss Case and Four Criminal Matters for the Supreme Court

Today, and earlier this week, the Supreme Court announced that it had granted certification in five cases. Four are criminal appeals and one is a civil matter. The civil case...

Governor Murphy's Supreme Court Nominees Clear the Senate Judiciary Committee

In separate hearings yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Governor Murphy's nominations of Judge Fasciale and Rachel Wainer Apter to the Supreme Court. They would fill the seats...

Chief Justice Rabner Offers Oral Argument Tips

This month's issue of New Jersey Lawyer magazine, coming soon to regular mailboxes of members of the New Jersey State Bar Association and already available to those members here, contains...

Three New Criminal Appeals for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in three new cases. All of them are criminal matters. In one case, the Court granted leave to appeal. The other...

The Supreme Court Begins the New Term by Granting Review in Five Cases

The Supreme Court announced the first grants of review in the new Term. The Court took up five cases. Two of those are before the Court on leave to appeal...

At Last! An Agreement is Reached for Governor Murphy to Re-Nominate Rachel Wainer Apter and Nominate Judge Fasciale for Supreme Court Seats

After much delay, an agreement has been reached under which Governor Murphy will re-nominate Rachel Wainer Apter, whom he nominated to fill a Supreme Court seat nearly eighteen months ago,...

An Additional Rule Amendment (Actually, a Deletion)

Chief Justice Rabner issued an order stating that Rule 2:12-5, which had required a deposit for costs in connection with petitions for certification, has been deleted. That lines up with...

The Second Half of August

As usually occurs with the current Term nearing its end, the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division have issued relatively few opinions in the second half of August. Here are...

Major Changes to the Appellate Rules, Effective September 1, 2022

In an omnibus rule amendment, the Supreme Court announced extensive rules changes that will take effect on September 1, 2022. Those amendments include significant changes to the appellate rules contained...

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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....