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

In Rare Cases, Attorneys' Fees and Costs May be Awarded When Case is Voluntarily Dismissed With Prejudice

Carroll v. E One, Inc., 893 F.3d 139 (3d Cir. 2018). Near the start of his opinion in this case, Chief Judge Smith observed that "[a]ttorneys' fees and costs are...

No Attorneys' Fees for Retired Public Employee Who Successfully Sued to Enforce Agency Decision Regarding His Pension

Brunt v. Board of Trustees, Police & Firemen's Retirement System, 455 N.J. Super. 357 (App. Div. 2018). In general, except as specified by statute, court rule, or a contract between...

A Lesson From Judge Geiger About Clarity in Attorney Time Entries

Giarusso v. Giarusso, 455 N.J. Super. 42 (App. Div. 2018). This opinion by Judge Geiger today involved an application for attorneys' fees in a matrimonial matter by a well-known North...

Allocation Among Multiple Defendants of Attorneys' Fees Under Fee-Shifting Statutes

Empower our Neighborhoods v. Guadagno, 453 N.J. Super. 565 (App. Div. 2018). This was an election case under the federal and New Jersey civil rights acts, both of which provide...

Standing, Attorneys' Fees, Disability, and Search and Seizure: The Latest Cases for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has granted review in four more cases. In Cherokee LCP Land, LLC v. City of Linden Planning Bd., the question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court...

No Attorneys' Fees Under OPRA Where Requested Documents Were Produced Before OPRA Lawsuit Was Filed

Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., LLC v. County of Bergen, 450 N.J. Super. 286 (App. Div. 2017). The Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 to -13 ("OPRA"), permits suits for...

When Both Sides Claim to be a "Prevailing Party" Entitled to Attorneys' Fees

Raab v. City of Ocean City, 833 F.3d 286 (3d Cir. 2016). In this case under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. §1983, both plaintiff and the defendant municipality claimed...

Attorneys' Fees in Patent Cases

Octane Fitness, LLC v. Icon Health & Fitness, Inc., ___ U.S. ___ (2014), and Highmark Inc. v. Allcare Health Mgmt. System, Inc., ___ U.S. ___ (2014). New Jersey is a...

Attorneys' Fees Under an Unaccepted Offer of Judgment

Feliciano v. Faldetta, 434 N.J. Super. 543 (App. Div. 2014). Rule 4:58-1 allows a plaintiff to make an offer of judgment. If the defendant does not accept the offer, and...

Does a Pending Decision on Attorneys' Fees Render an Entered Judgment Less Than Final?

Ray Haluch Gravel Co. v. Central Pension Fund, ___ U.S. ___ (2014). In New Jersey state court, if attorneys' fee issues remain to be adjudicated, any judgment entered is considered...

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The "Limited Attorney Exemption" of the Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act is Held Unconstitutional as Violative of the Separation of Powers and Void for Vagueness

Anchor Law Firm, PLLC v. State of New Jersey, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). The Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act, N.J.S.A. 17:16G-1 et seq. ("DACCA"), prohibits debt adjusters in New Jersey from operating for a profit. There is an exception for attorneys not "principally engaged" (a term not defined in the statute) in debt adjustment. That exception, adopted in a 1986 amendment, replaced a prior version of the DACCA that had exempted all attorneys from its scope....

Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: Where a Party Files a Suit Alleged to Violate the UPEPA But Quickly Dismisses It, Can Defendants Then Get Counsel Fees Under the Statute?

On May 15, judges on Part C of the Appellate Division will hear oral argument in Satz v. Keshet Starr. Plaintiff, acting pro se, filed a defamation suit against defendants. Defendants filed an o order to show cause to dismiss the case and for attorneys' fees under the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-49 et seq. ("UPEPA"). The UPEPA, enacted in 2023, sought to make it more difficult to use the legal system as a weapon to bully individuals into silence by filing what have been known as SLAPP ("strategic lawsuits against public participation") suits....

"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....