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

Parochial School That Fired Pregnant Teacher for Premarital Sex May Have Violated the LAD

Crisitello v. St. Theresa School, 465 N.J. Super. 223 (App. Div. 2020). This decision under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 et seq. ("LAD"), was the second time...

Headed for the Supreme Court: Do Auction Sales Contracts Require a Three-Day Attorney Review Provision?

Sullivan v. Max Spann Real Estate & Auction Co., 465 N.J. Super. 243 (App. Div. 2020). As Judge Firko stated in the first sentence of her opinion in this case,...

A Forfeited Argument, Reviewed Nonetheless for Plain Error (Unlike a Waived Argument) Saves the Day for a Criminal Defendant

United States v. Brito, 979 F.3d 185 (3d Cir. 2020). As discussed here, waiver of an argument occurs when a party intentionally relinquishes or abandons a contention, while forfeiture is...

Personal Jurisdiction by New Jersey State Courts Over Out-of-State Counsel Admitted Pro Hac Vice in New Jersey Federal Court

Zahl v. Eastland, 465 N.J. Super. 79 (App. Div. 2020). [Disclosure: I have represented the defendants in this matter.] Judge Messano's opinion for the Appellate Division in this case today...

The Appellate Division Corrects Its Ruling in State v. Faber

State v. Faber, 465 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2020). As discussed here, last month, the Appellate Division affirmed defendant's Municipal Court convictions but remanded for correction of his sentence....

Underage Adult Host Can be Liable for Acts of Underage Guests Who Consume Alcohol at the Host's Home

Estate of Narleski v. Gomes, 244 N.J. 199 (2020). Near the beginning of his opinion for a unanimous Supreme Court in this case, Justice Albin summarized the issue: "Under our...

The "Queen of All Threshold Issues" in Arbitration Law

MZM Construction Co., Inc. v. New Jersey Building Laborers Statewide Benefit Funds, 974 F.3d 386 (3d Cir. 2020). Decisions about arbitration just keep on coming, from both New Jersey and...

Arbitration Clause is Enforceable Despite Absence of Specified Arbitration Forum

Flanzman v. Jenny Craig, Inc., 244 N.J. 119 (2020). As discussed here, the Appellate Division in this employment discrimination case held that an arbitration provision that did not specify a...

Agreement Settling Disciplinary Charge Against a Public Employee is Exempt From Disclosure Under OPRA, But Perhaps Available Under Common Law

Libertarians for Transparent Government v. Cumberland County, 465 N.J. Super. 11 (App. Div. 2020). Judge Accurso issued this opinion for the Appellate Division today, the first published opinion in a...

A Municipal Court Appeal Triggers the Appellate Division's "Didactic Role as an Intermediate Appellate Court"

State v. Faber, 465 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2020). Today's opinion by Judge Fuentes in this case, which originated in Municipal Court and then went to the Law Division,...

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The Last Seven Days

The last seven days, an especially busy period for me, featured one Supreme Court opinion and two published Appellate Division decisions. Here are summaries of those rulings:...

No Ethics Violation in Attorney Purchasing Another Attorney's Name as a Keyword for Internet Searches, the Supreme Court Says, With a Caveat

In re Opinion No. 735 of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). [Disclosure: I represented an amicus curiae in this appeal]. As Justice Noriega said in his opinion for a 5-1 majority (Justice Pierre-Louis did not participate), this appeal "presents the narrow question of whether it is permissible under the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) for an attorney or law firm to purchase a competing attorney's or law firm's name as a keyword." The Court found it permissible, with a caveat. Justice Fasciale dissented....

Four Criminal Law Cases, and a Qui Tam Appeal, for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted review in five new appeals. One of them is before the Court on leave to appeal, while in the others the Court granted certification....

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....