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

Granting a Handwritten, Pro Se Petition, the U.S. Supreme Court Will Review Prison Regulation of Inmate Beards

The landmark right to counsel case of Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), famously involved a prisoner's handwritten petition for certiorari that was granted and went on to change the legal...

Protecting the Rights of Service Members, and a Time for Appeal Issue

Newman v. Board of Review, 434 N.J. Super. 493 (App. Div. 2014). This is a case in which plaintiff sought unemployment benefits. The detailed facts of the case are almost not...

Applying the Teacher Tenure Act

Platia v. Hamilton Tp. Bd. of Educ., 434 N.J. Super. 382 (App. Div. 2014). Plaintiff was employed as a special education teacher for more than three academic years in a...

Technology as Promoting Self-Reliance and Personal Privacy of Disabled Persons

L.R. v. Division of Disability Services, 434 N.J. Super. 430 (App. Div. 2014). The core mission of the Division of Disability Services is "serving people who have become disabled as...

The Limitations of Mandamus

Caporusso v. New Jersey Dep't of Health & Senior Services, 434 N.J. Super. 88 (App. Div. 2014). The prerogative writ of mandamus is the centerpiece of this opinion by Judge...

Mother Who Left Infant in Running Automobile While She Bought Party Supplies is Guilty of Child Abuse or Neglect

Department of Children & Families v. E.D.-O., 434 N.J. Super. 154 (App. Div. 2014). Appellant "Eleanor" admitted that she had parked her car about 150 feet from a Dollar Tree...

Ban on Discrimination Against the Unemployed in Job Advertisements is Constitutional

New Jersey Dept' of Labor & Workforce Development v. Crest Ultrasonics, 434 N.J. Super. 34 (App. Div. 2014). N.J.S.A. 34:8B-1 "bars employers seeking to fill job vacancies in this State...

"Arbitrary, Capricious, or Unreasonable" Test Applies to Judicial Review of Administrative Agency Actions, Whether "Quasi-Judicial" or "Quasi-Legislative"

In re Proposed Quest Academy Charter School, 216 N.J. 370 (2013). In this unanimous opinion, fittingly written by Justice LaVecchia given her Office of Administrative Law background, the Supreme Court...

Appeals About Issues Decided by State Agency Must Go to the Appellate Division, Not the Law Division

Beaver v. Magellan Health Services, Inc.. 433 N.J. Super. 430 (App. Div. 2013). "Under what circumstances may a litigant pursue common law and statutory causes of action in the Law...

Impossibility of Performance as a Defense to Easement Agreements

Petrozzi v. City of Ocean City, 433 N.J. Super. 290 (App. Div. 2013). This case presented a concept of basic contract law– impossibility of performance– in an unusual setting. Judge Parrillo...

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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....