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

Supreme Court Will Review Tumpson v. Farina

The Supreme Court has granted certification to review the decision of the Appellate Division in Tumpson v. Farina, 431 N.J. Super. 164 (App. Div. 2013). The decision below is discussed here. The...

Brief Administrative Determination Addressed to Spanish-Speaking Puerto Rican Resident Must be Translated Into Spanish in Its Entirety in Order to Satisfy Due Process

Alicea v. Board of Review, 432 N.J. Super. 347 (App. Div. 2013). In Rivera v. Board of Review, 127 N.J. 578 (1992), a case that, like today's decision, involved a...

Railroad Can Take Private Property if "Not Incompatible With the Public Interest" and as "The Exigencies of Business May Demand"

Norfolk Southern Railway Co. v. Intermodal Properties, LLC, 210 N.J. 261 (2013). New Jersey law allows railroads and public utilities to take private property by eminent domain. N.J.S.A. 48:3-17.7 requires that any such taking...

"Appearance of Impropriety" Standard Continues to Apply to Quasi-Judicial Municipal Bodies

Kane Properties, LLC v. City of Hoboken, 214 N.J. 199 (2013). This opinion by Justice Hoens affirms, as modified, the decision of the Appellate Division in this municipal land use matter, reported at...

Use Variance Applicant Need Not Show That Subject Property is the Only Available Site for the Use

Price v. Himeji, LLC, 214 N.J. 263 (2013). Himeji, LLC applied to the Union City Board of Adjustment for a use variance, density, height, and other variances, and a waiver necessary for the construction of a...

Another Big Win for the Hoboken Rent Board

Heyert v. Taddese, 431 N.J. Super. 388 (App. Div. 2013). [Disclosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, represented the Hoboken Rent Leveling & Stabilization Board in this appeal and in the other...

The "Temporary Validity Doctrine" of Administrative Law

E.B. v. Division of Medical Assistance & Health Services, 431 N.J. Super. 183 (App. Div. 2013). This appeal challenged the issuance of Medicaid Communication No. 11-03 by the defendant Division. In that...

City Clerk Did Not Comply With Faulkner Act, But That Did Not Constitute a Violation of the New Jersey Civil Rights Act

Tumpson v. Farina, 431 N.J. Super. 164 (App. Div. 2013). This case arose under the Faulkner Act, N.J.S.A. 40:69A-1 to -210. [Disclosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, represented defendants in this...

The Passive Voice (and Persuasive Legislative History) Makes the Difference in Statutory Interpretation

Cologna v. Board of Trustees, Police & Firemen's Retirement Syst., 430 N.J. Super. 362 (App. Div. 2013). By statute, a former member of the Police and Firemen's Retirement System ("PFRS") normally has two...

An Important Administrative Law Appeal to the Supreme Court

Sometimes we all fall behind. On March 21, 2013, the Appellate Division decided In re N.J.A.C. 7:1B-1.1 et seq., 431 N.J. Super. 100 (App. Div. March 21, 2013). A coalition of environmental groups...

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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....