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

Avoiding an Absurd Result in a Statute of Limitations Case Under the Survivor Act

Warren v. Muenzen, 448 N.J. Super. 52 (App. Div. 2016). A 2009 amendment to the Survivor Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:15-3, included language that "[e]very action brought under this chapter shall be commenced...

"On the Road Again": The Appellate Division Will Hear Arguments in Freehold Next Week

The Appellate Division normally hears oral arguments in Newark, Trenton, Hackensack, and Morristown. Every so often, however, the Appellate Division takes its show on the road to other venues. Today,...

Two Appellate Division Judges are Nominated for Tenure

Governor Christie has nominated eighteen judges for tenure after their initial seven-year terms. Two of those judges currently sit in the Appellate Division. They are judges Gibbons Whipple and Vernoia....

Three More Cases for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that three more cases have been added to its docket. State v. Carrero, Jr. is before the Court by virtue of a dissent in the Appellate...

Judge Sabatino's Ruling That Choice of Law Decisions Can be Made Defendant-by-Defendant is Affirmed by the Supreme Court

Ginsberg v. Quest Diagnostics, Inc., 227 N.J. 7 (2016). Last year, the Appellate Division, speaking through Judge Sabatino, issued a lengthy opinion in this choice of law case. That decision,...

Remittitur Decisions Cannot Take Account of Awards in Other Cases

Cuevas v. Wentworth Group, 226 N.J. 480 (2016). In He v. Miller, 207 N.J. 230 (2011), the Supreme Court addressed issues of remittitur at length and in detail. Among other...

Third Circuit Forms a Task Force on Eyewitness Identifications

Chief Judge McKee has announced the formation of a Task Force on Eyewitness Identifications. This seventeen-member body will be co-chaired by Chief Judge McKee and Judge Mitchell Goldberg of the United...

Standing and Mootness in a Ten Commandments Monument Case

Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. New Kensington Arnold School District, 832 F.3d 469 (3d Cir. 2016). Federal standing law sometimes involves nuances inquiries comparable to the famous question of...

Due Process Requires Counsel for an Indigent Parent in a Private Adoption Case That Would Terminate Parental Rights

In re Adoption of a Child by J.E.V. and D.G.V., 226 N.J. 90 (2016). In this unanimous opinion, authored by Chief Justice Rabner, the Supreme Court ruled that an indigent...

Trial Courts May Not Take Away a Jury Trial as a Sanction for a Rule Violation

Williams v. American Auto Logistics, 226 N.J. 117 (2016). Parties who fail to follow procedural rules are a source of frustration to busy trial judges. As Justice Fernandez-Vina noted in...

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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....