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

The Anniversary of Hinfey v. Matawan Regional Bd. of Educ.

As the role of administrative agencies has grown, it has happened that more than one agency has, or arguably has, jurisdiction over the same matter. How is it determined which...

What is an "Agenda"? Perhaps the Supreme Court Should Tell Us

Opderbeck v. Midland Park Bd. of Educ., 442 N.J. Super. 40 (App. Div. 2015). The Open Public Meetings Act, N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 to -21 ("OPMA"), adopted in 1975, requires advance notice...

The Supreme Court Sends a Difficult Child Abuse Case Back to the Office of Administrative Law

Department of Children & Families v. E.D.-O., 223 N.J. 166 (2015). Child abuse and neglect cases are often heartbreaking. Branding a parent as abusive and neglectful is a hard step...

IFPA Claims by Private Insurers are Subject to Trial by Jury

Allstate New Jersey Ins. Co. v. Lajara, 222 N.J. 129 (2015). The Insurance Fraud Prevention Act, N.J.S.A. 17:33A-1 to-30 ("IFPA"), permits insurance companies to sue those who engage in insurance...

Land Use Litigant Cannot "Make a Mockery of the Exhaustion Doctrine"

Casser v. Knowlton Tp., 441 N.J. Super. 353 (App. Div. 2015). Two consolidated cases, three Law Division judges who had pieces of these matters, and a lengthy and convoluted procedural...

Nobody's Perfect

In re Petition of Fishermen's Atlantic City Windfarm, LLC, 2015 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1265 (App. Div. May 29, 2015). This not precedential decision, issued last Friday, May 29, addresses...

Another Failure to Act by COAH, and Another Court Gives a COAH Power to the Courts Instead

In re Failure of the Council on Affordable Housing to Adopt Trust Fund Commitment Regulations, 440 N.J. Super. 220 (App. Div. 2015). The Fair Housing Act, N.J.S.A. 52:27D-329.2(a), states that...

The Appellate Division Addresses a "Rehash"

New Jersey Healthcare Coalition v. New Jersey Dep't of Banking & Insurance, 440 N.J. Super. 129 (App. Div. 2015). According to today's opinion by Judge Reisner, every few years "health...

The Supreme Court Revisits the Constitutionality of the Redevelopment Law

62-64 Main Street, LLC v. Hackensack Mayor & Council, 221 N.J. 129 (2015). The Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-1 to -73, defines when an area is blighted and...

A Blockbuster Opinion: The Supreme Court Gives COAH's Powers Back to the Courts

In re Adoption of N.J.A.C. 5:96 and 5:97 by N.J. Council on Affordable Housing, 221 N.J. 1 (2015). As foreshadowed by the oral argument, the Supreme Court today granted Fair...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 171819 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27…Last

"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....