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

Justice Wainer Apter's First Opinion

W.S. v. Hildreth, 252 N.J. 506 (2023). This unanimous opinion was Justice Wainer Apter's first. As is traditional for a Justice's first-ever opinion, it was unanimous. As summarized here, this...

Fraud in the Inducement Claim Won't Defeat Forum Selection Clause Unless Fraud Involved That Clause Specifically

Largoza v. FKM Real Estate Holdings, Inc., 252 N.J. Super. 331 (App. Div. 2022). A line of federal cases that includes Prima Paint Corp. v. Flood & Conklin Mfg. Co., 388...

Judicial, Equitable, and Collateral Estoppel, as Well as Waiver, Barred a Municipality's Arguments in the Mount Laurel Context

In re Borough of Englewood Cliffs, 473 N.J. Super. 189 (App. Div. 2022). Judge Gilson's opinion for the Appellate Division in this case today arose out of the settlement of...

Tolling of Statute of Limitations for Claims by Minors Does Not Apply to Minors Who Have Died, and on Whose Behalf a Wrongful Death Case is Brought

Monk v. Kennedy University Hospital, Inc., 473 N.J. Super. 178 (App. Div. 2022). This opinion today by Judge Berdote Byrne is, I believe, her first published decision for the Appellate...

Three Published Appellate Division Decisions

The last several days have seen some interesting published opinions by the Appellate Division. Here are summaries of three of them: Petro v. Platkin, 472 N.J. Super. 536 (App. Div....

Thirteen Years After a Plea Agreement is Too Late to Challenge it on Motion for Post-Conviction Relief

State v. Marolda, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2022). On August 17, 2006, defendant entered into a plea agreement that resolved two cases against him: a criminal matter in...

Fifteen Years Since Liberty Surplus Ins. Corp. v. Nowell Amoroso, P.A.

It's been awhile since this blog featured an anniversary post. Today is a good day to do so. On this date in 2007, the Supreme Court decided Liberty Surplus Ins...

This Week's Published Opinions

Today is a court holiday for New Jersey state and federal courts. That affords an opportunity to catch up with this week's published opinions from the Supreme Court,, the Appellate...

Interest on Pension Loan From Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund That Was Not Charged When Due Cannot be Waived

Zilberberg v. Board of Trustees, Teachers' Pension & Annuity Fund, ___ N.J. Siper. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Barbara Zilberg, a former school psychologist, got a pension loan in 2004 from...

The Anniversary of Ayers v. Jackson Tp.

On this date in 1987, the Supreme Court decided Ayers v. Jackson Tp., 106 N.J. 557 (1987). As Justice Stein said in his opinion for the 6-1majority (Justice Handler dissented...

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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....