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

Editorial: Tomorrow is Election Day

Tomorrow is Election Day. This election presents one of the most consequential choices between major party candidates for President of the United States that this nation has ever seen. When...

No Valid Settlement With DEP Absent Signature and Public Notice of Proposed Settlement

Cumberland Farms, Inc. v. New Jersey Dep't of Environmental Protection, 447 N.J. Super. 444 (App. Div. 2016). Plaintiff ("CFI") operates convenience stores and gas stations in many locations in New...

Three More Cases for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that three more cases have been added to its docket. State v. Carrero, Jr. is before the Court by virtue of a dissent in the Appellate...

The "Single Publication Rule" and the One-Year Statute of Limitations Bar a Defamation Case

Petro-Lubricant Testing Laboratories, Inc. v. Adelman, 447 N.J. Super. 391 (App. Div. 2016). The "single publication rule" gives a defamation plaintiff "a single cause of action, which arises at the...

A Judson Anniversary

As discussed here, many veteran lawyers know of Judson v. Peoples Bank & Trust Co. of Westfield, 17 N.J. 67 (1957), as the predecessor to Brill v. Guardian Life Ins....

When Both Sides Claim to be a "Prevailing Party" Entitled to Attorneys' Fees

Raab v. City of Ocean City, 833 F.3d 286 (3d Cir. 2016). In this case under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. §1983, both plaintiff and the defendant municipality claimed...

The Supreme Court's Busy August

In the last ten days, the Supreme Court, nearing the end of its term, has issued a number of opinions. It has been hard to keep up with them all....

The Discovery Rule is Applied to Common Law and Consumer Fraud Act Claims

Catena v. Raytheon Company, 447 N.J. Super. 43 (App. Div. 2016). The time when a cause of action accrues, for purposes of triggering the statute of limitations, is a recurring...

Standing and Mootness in a Ten Commandments Monument Case

Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. New Kensington Arnold School District, 832 F.3d 469 (3d Cir. 2016). Federal standing law sometimes involves nuances inquiries comparable to the famous question of...

When Can an LLC Expel a Member?

IE Test, LLC v. Carroll, 226 N.J. 166 (2016). Until it was superseded by the Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, N.J.S.A. 42:2C-1 to -94 ("RULLCA"), on March 18, 2013,...

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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....