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

Daubert Factors (But Not Daubert) Come to New Jersey

In re Accutane Litigation, 234 N.J.340 (2018). [Disclosure: I argued this appeal, together with co-counsel, on behalf of the plaintiffs. The opinions expressed in this post are mine alone, and...

A Lesson in Subject Matter Jurisdiction From Judge Greenaway

Adorers of the Blood of Christ v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 897 F.3d 187 (3d Cir. 2018). Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC ("Transco") obtained a certificate of public convenience...

The Federal Tort Claims Act Statute of Limitations

Sconiers v. United States, 896 F.3d 595 (3d Cir. 2018). Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §2401(b) ("FTCA"), a tort claim against the United States is "forever barred...

Class of Kia Vehicles Owners Was Entitled to Damages Based on Aggregate Figures Rather Than Individual Damage Assessments

Little v. Kia Motors America, Inc., 455 N.J. Super. 411 (App. Div. 2018). Class actions notoriously take a long time. But the case in which Judge Koblitz issued a decision...

Res Ipsa Loquitur and Elevator Doors

McDaid v. Aztec West Condominium Association, 234 N.J. 130 (2018). As Jutice Albin stated in the first two sentences of today's opinion for a unanimous Supreme Court, "Res ipsa loquitur...

The Third Circuit Clarifies CAFA's "Local Controversy Exception" on Unusual Facts

Walsh v. Defenders, Inc., 894 F.3d 583 (3d Cir. 2018). The "local controversy" exception to federal jurisdiction over putative class actions under the so-called Class Action Fairness Act of 2005,...

McCarrell Choice of Law Analysis Goes Against Legal Malpractice Plaintiff

MTK Food Services, Inc. v. Sirius America Ins. Co., 455 N.J. Super. 307 (App. Div. 2018). In McCarrell v. Hoffman-LaRoche, Inc., 227 N.J. 569 (2017), discussed here, the Supreme Court...

No Attorneys' Fees for Retired Public Employee Who Successfully Sued to Enforce Agency Decision Regarding His Pension

Brunt v. Board of Trustees, Police & Firemen's Retirement System, 455 N.J. Super. 357 (App. Div. 2018). In general, except as specified by statute, court rule, or a contract between...

U.S. Supreme Court Restricts American Pipe Class Action Tolling Doctrine

China Agritech, Inc. v. Resh, 138 S.Ct. 1800 (2018). In American Pipe & Const. Co. v. Utah, 414 U.S. 538 (1974), the Supreme Court of the United States announced a...

A Sidewalk Liability Case Involving a Vacant Church

Ellis v. Hilton United Methodist Church, 455 N.J. Super. 33 (App. Div. 2018). The opinion in this case, issued today, involved a slip and fall on a sidewalk that abutted...

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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....