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

"Learned Professional" Exception to Consumer Fraud Act Exempts Providers of Ambulance Services

Atlantic Ambulance Corp. v. Cullum, 451 N.J. Super. 247 (App. Div. 2017). In her first published opinion for the Appellate Division since her elevation, Judge Mayer today addressed consolidated putative...

"Reasonable Expectations of the Insured" Did Not Defeat Clear Policy Exclusion of "Insured vs. Insured" Claims

Abboud v. National Union Fire Ins. Co., 450 N.J. Super. 400 (App. Div. 2017). This opinion by Judge Ostrer interpreted an "insured vs. insured" exclusion in a directors and officers...

Undoing "Subtle Misinterpretations of … Longstanding Jurisprudence" Regarding Preliminary Injunctions in the Third Circuit

Reilly v. City of Harrisburg, 858 F.3d 173 (3d Cir. 2017). This case involved claims by plaintiffs that an ordinance of the City of Harrisburg unconstitutionally deprived them of the...

An Administrative Regulation, "A Linguistic Morass," is Invalidated as Arbitrary and Capricious

In re N.J.A.C. 12:17-2.1, 450 N.J. Super. 152 (App. Div. 2017). Given the deferential standard of review of the validity of regulations promulgated by administrative agencies, it is relatively rare...

Notice of Disapproval of a Residential Real Estate Contract May Now be Given by Facsimile and Electronic Mail

Conley v. Guerrero, 228 N.J. 339 (2017). Today's decision in this case, written by Justice Solomon for a unanimous Court, largely affirmed the ruling of the Appellate Division, reported at...

Sovereign Immunity Defeats Contribution Claims Against the State for Pre-Spill Act Discharges

NL Industries, Inc. v. State, 228 N.J. 280 (2017). In 1976, the Legislature passed the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11 to -23.24 ("the Spill Act"). The...

A Sanctions Anniversary

On this date in 2003, the Appellate Division decided Seacoast Builders Corp. v. Rutgers, 358 N.J. Super. 524 (App. Div. 2003). This was a relatively rare case in which the...

Rulings on Lack of Personal Jurisdiction and Forum Non Conveniens Normally Require a Discovery Record

Rippon v. Smigel, 449 N.J. Super. 344 (App. Div. 2017). This opinion by Judge Haas today reverses a dismissal that was based on lack of personal jurisdiction, forum non conveniens,...

Collateral Source Statute Does Not Apply to Awards Under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination

Acevedo v. Flightsafety International, Inc., 449 N.J. Super. 185 (App. Div. 2017). In this opinion by Judge Reisner, the Appellate Division held that it was error for the Law Division...

Tenant Who Receives a Rent Subsidy Under New Jersey's "S-RAP" Program Can't be Evicted for Non-Payment of Additional Rent

175 Executive House, LLC v. Miles, 449 N.J. Super. 197 (App. Div. 2017). A tenant who receives a rent subsidy under the federal "Section 8" voucher program, 42 U.S.C. §1437 to...

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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....