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

Busy Days at the Third Circuit

Though the Supreme Court of New Jersey and the Appellate Division are only just beginning to ramp up in the new Term, the Third Circuit has been pumping out published...

Third Circuit Roundup

Even as the Appellate Division wound down the number of its published opinions in the second half of August, the Third Circuit seemed to rev up its publication of opinions....

The Supreme Court Takes Up Five More Cases

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted review in five more cases. In four of those matters, the Court granted certification. The fifth case will be before the...

The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association and a Landmark Decision in Constitutional Law

Forty years ago today, the Supreme Court decided State v. Celmer, 80 N.J. 405 (1979), a case that arose out of he conviction of defendant on charges of DWI, speeding,...

This Kind of "STOLI" is Against New Jersey's Public Policy

Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 238 N.J. 157 (2019). This appeal came to the Supreme Court via questions certified by the Third Circuit Court...

The Three Tests for Confidentiality of Litigation Documents

In re Avandia Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, 924 F.3d 662 (3d Cir. 2019). This appeal had an unusual subject: whether certain documents that defendant GlaxoSmithKline ("GSK") had...

Two Cases About Access to Swimming

Susko v. Borough of Belmar, 458 N.J. Super. 583 (App. Div. 2019); Curto v. A Country Place Condominium Association, 921 F.3d 405 (3d Cir. 2019). Yesterday, while I was in...

Involuntary Commitments Orders Don't Become Moot Merely Because Confinement Has Ended

In re Civil Commitment of C.M., 458 N.J. Super. 563 (App. Div. 2019). The doctrine of mootness enables courts to avoid disputes that are not "live." Today's opinion by Judge...

Insubstantial Constitutional Issues Don't Afford an Appeal to the Supreme Court as of Right

On this date in 1965, the Supreme Court decided Tidewater Oil Co. v. Mayor & Council of Borough of Carteret, 44 N.J. 338 (1965), a municipal land use case. That...

The Supreme Court Takes Up a Gun Permit Case

The Supreme Court announced late today that it has granted certification in In re Application for Permit to Carry a Handgun of Calvin Carlstrom. The question presented on that appeal,...

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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....