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

A New Test for Defining "Merchandise" Under the Consumer Fraud Act

All the Way Towing, LLC v. Bucks County International, Inc., 236 N.J. 431 (2019). Plaintiffs (an individual and his company, treated as one plaintiff here) purchased a customized tow truck...

Another Less-Than-Direct Way of Trying to Impose an Arbitration Scheme Fails

Skuse v. Pfizer, Inc., 457 N.J. Super. 539 (App. Div. 2019). Sometimes, the first sentence of a judicial opinion tells you all you need to know about the result, even...

"Confusing," "Contradictory," and "Obscure" Provision of Consumer Contract Claimed to Mandate Arbitration is Held Not to Do So

Kernahan v. Home Warranty Administrator of Florida, Inc., 236 N.J. 301 (2019). When the Supreme Court grants review based on a particular issue raised by the petitioner, but the petitioner...

Pendent Appellate Jurisdiction

Reinig v. RBS Citizens, N.A., 912 F.3d 115 (3d Cir. 2018). This was the final published opinion of 2018 for the Third Circuit. Authored by Judge Vanaskie, the opinion reverses...

Receiver of a Defrauded Entity May Initiate Arbitration Even if Entity's Shareholders Will Ultimately Benefit From Any Recovery

Interactive Brokers, LLC v. Barry, 457 N.J. Super. 357 (App. Div. 2018). This final post of 2018 features an opinion issued today by Judge Currier. The case arose out of...

Trial Judges Have Discretion to Replay Counsel's Summations Upon a Jury's Request

State v. Brown, 457 N.J. Super. 345 (App. Div. 2018). Deliberating jurors often request that trial testimony be read back to them. As Judge Sabatino noted n his opinion in...

Equitable Distribution of Restricted Stock in a Divorce

M.G. v. S.M., 457 N.J. Super. 286 (App. Div. 2018). As Judge Mawla stated in his opinion in this case today, "[i]ncreasingly, executive compensation has been achieved through means other...

An Anniversary in Supersedeas Bond Law

There are very few cases that discuss Rules 2:9-5 or 2:9-6, the rules dealing with supersedeas bonds. One of those cases, Courvoisier v. Harley Davidson of Trenton, Inc., 162 N.J....

As 2018 Winds Down, the Supreme Court Adds Six More Cases

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in six more cases as 2018 is coming to a close. As is often the case, the new appeals represent a...

Direct vs. Derivative Claims Among Shareholders of a Close Corporation

Tully v. Mirz, 457 N.J. Super. 11 (App. Div. 2018). This opinion by Judge Geiger today addresses the question of what claims, between two owners of a closely-held corporation, are...

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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....