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

Appellate Division Ousts Morris County Freeholder in Resolving Election Dispute

Nordstrom v. Lyon, 424 N.J. Super. 80 (App. Div. 2012). William "Hank" Lyon was a media star last year. In his early 20's, and a newcomer to the political scene, Lyon ran for Morris...

Warrant Required for Municipal Inspector to Enter Premises

State v. Heine, 424 N.J. Super. 48 (App. Div. 2012). Ellen Heine, the owner of a property in Garfield, was found guilty in municipal court of violating provisions of the Garfield property maintenance code....

Taxpayer May Not Disregard the Corporate Form by Taking Personal Deductions for Paying Corporate Obligations

Schulmann v. Director, New Jersey Div. of Taxation, 423 N.J. Super. 333 (App. Div. 2011). Daniel Schulmann used personal funds to pay certain commissions that two "S corporations" were contractually obligated to pay to...

The Bear Hunt is On

Animal Protection League of New Jersey v. New Jersey Dep't of Environmental Protection, 423 N.J. Super. 549 (App. Div. 2011). With the coming of this season often comes an effort by the...

Sovereign Immunity, Though Not Raised Below, Wins the Day for the United States Government

Jacobson v. United States, 422 N.J. Super. 561 (App. Div. 2011). It is not often that the United States is a party in a state court case. This matter involved a claim...

Deprivation of Deferred Retirement Benefits Due to Conviction of Crime May Occur Only When Offense Relates to Official Duties

In re Hess, 422 N.J. Super. 27 (App. Div. 2011). Suzanne Hess was employed as a Geographic Information Specialist by the New Jersey Office of Information Technology. She filed an application for a...

State Employee Who Chose to Schedule "Furlough Days" Consecutively Cannot Collect Unemployment Compensation for Those Days

Futterman v. Board of Review, 421 N.J. Super. 281 (App. Div. 2011). This case arose out of the 2009 agreement between the Christie administration and the union that represents state...

City/State Location of Calls to/from Public Employees' Government-Provided Cellphones are Not Private

Livecchia v. Borough of Mount Arlington, 421 N.J. Super. 24 (App. Div. 2011). North Jersey Newspapers Co. v. Passaic Cty. Bd. of Freeholders, 127 N.J. 9 (1992), held that "the people...

Statute Extending Limitations Period for Environmental Claims by the State Covers Common Law Strict Liability Cause of Action

New Jersey Dep't of Environmental Protection v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 420 N.J. Super. 395 (App. Div. 2011). N.J.S.A. 58:10B-17.1(b) ("the extension statute") extends the normal statute of limitations for environmental...

"Shall" We? Is it "Necessary"?

In re State Bd. of Education's Denial of Petition to Adopt Regulations Implementing the New Jersey High School Voter Registration Law, 2011 WL 1529734 (App. Div. 2011). Public interest organizations submitted a...

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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....