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

Three More Supreme Court Grants of Certification

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in three more cases. Two of them are criminal matters. The third addresses labor and constitutional law issues. The labor appeal...

"Class of One" Equal Protection Claims by Public Employees Are Not Permitted

DiBuonaventura v. Washington Tp., 462 N.J. Super. 260 (App. Div. 2020). Plaintiff was a police officer in Washington Township, Gloucester County. He made several complaints about the conduct of the...

The First Supreme Court Grants of Review in 2020 Are All in Criminal Cases

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted certification in three cases. All are criminal appeals, one of which involved a published opinion of the Appellate Division. State v....

If a Defendant Waives a Personal Jurisdiction Defense, a Court Cannot Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

Triffin v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Auth., 462 N.J. Super. 172 (App. Div. 2020). Judge Fisher issued the Appellate Division's opinion on this appeal just eight days after it was argued....

No Personal Jurisdiction Over New York Doctor Who Treated New Jersey Patient Only in New York

Pullen v. Galloway, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019). This medical malpractice/wrongful death appeal involved the question of whether New Jersey state courts had personal jurisdiction over defendant doctors...

Did Denial of a Trial Adjournment to Allow a Criminal Defendant to Replace a Public Defender With Private Counsel Deprive Defendant of His Constitutional Right to Counsel? The Supreme Court Will Decid

The Supreme Court announced late on Friday that it has granted certification in State v. Maisonet. The question presented on this appeal, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's office,...

Mandatory Minimum Prison Term for Driving With a License Suspended After Multiple DWI's is Constitutional

State v. Pimentel, 461 N.J. Super. 468 (App. Div. 2019). N.J.S.A. 2C:40-26 prohibits driving with a license suspended due to a second or subsequent conviction for driving while intoxicated. The...

Internet Transactions and Personal Jurisdiction

Jardim v. Overley, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019). This opinion yesterday, by Judge Sabatino, applied a venerable doctrine in a new context. As Judge Sabatino put it, the...

The Supreme Court Loads Up on New Appeals

The Supreme Court usually adds new appeals in relatively small groups. But its latest tranche of grants of review consists of eight new cases, implicating numerous different area of the...

Stays Pending Appeal- An Anniversary

Since this is an appellate law blog, its "anniversary" posts (as well as all or virtually all others) deal with appellate decisions. Today's post is an exception, in that it...

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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....