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

The Supreme Court Speaks About the Construction Statute of Repose

State v. Perini Corp., 221 N.J. 412 (2015). Three years ago, the Appellate Division issued an opinion that addressed whether the construction statute of repose, N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1.1a, runs from the...

Another Supreme Court Decision on a Certified Question, This Time on the Wage and Hour Law and Wage Payment Law

Hargrove v. Sleepy's, LLC, 220 N.J. 289 (2015). Today, speaking through Judge Cuff, the Supreme Court issued an opinion on a certified question posed to the Court by the Third...

Eminent Domain Act Does Not Require Condemning Authority to Negotiate With Anyone Other Than Record Title Holder

Borough of Merchantville v. Malik & Son, LLC, 218 N.J. 556 (2014). In this eminent domain case, the Appellate Division held that, in taking a piece of property by condemnation,...

"Common Interest" Doctrine Protects Documents From Disclosure Under OPRA

O'Boyle v. Borough of Longport, 218 N.J. 168 (2014). The "common interest" doctrine permits multiple parties, who are represented by different counsel, to share information without destroying attorney-client privilege. The...

A Third Party's Consent to a Warrantless Search is Not Constitutionally Valid Where Police Could Have Gotten Consent Directly From Defendant

This is another guest post by Jeffrey A. Shooman, my colleague at Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC: State v. Coles, 217 N.J. 467 (2014). Sergeant Zsakhiem James of the Camden Police...

School District is Not Liable for Dog Attack on School Property on a Weekend

Robinson v. Vivirito, 217 N.J. 199 (2014). On her way to a diner on a Saturday, plaintiff Charlotte Robinson took a shortcut across a middle school property. As she crossed...

Clear and Convincing Evidence is Required to Rebut a Presumption of Gift From Parent to Child

Bhagat v. Bhagat, 217 N.J. 22 (2014). A father transferred stock in a close corporation to his son. Such transfers from parent to child are generally presumed to be gifts,...

Potential Drainage Issues Do Not Defeat Right to a Variance for Frontage

Ten Stary Dom Partnership v. Mauro, 216 N.J. 16 (2013). Less than two weeks after issuing an opinion about conditional use variances, the Supreme Court today turned to bulk variances...

Supreme Court Says TCCWNA Gives Broad Protections to Consumers

Shelton v. Restaurant.com, Inc., 214 N.J. 419 (2013). [Disclosure: I argued this case in the Supreme Court for the successful plaintiffs]. This consumer protection case has had a long odyssey. Originally filed...

The Invited Error Doctrine

State v. A.R., 185 N.J. 256 (2013). This blog does not often report on criminal cases. But the attached decision, written by Judge Cuff for a unanimous Supreme Court, highlights the invited...

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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....