NJ Appellate Law Blog

Making Up Ground

Due to a personal matter, there have been no posts on this blog since June 2. This post will summarize some of the decisions from our appellate courts since that...

The Supreme Court Reaffirms 66 East Allendale Rule for Determining Highest and Best Use in Condemnation Cases

Township of Manalapan v. Gentile, 242 N.J. 295 (2020). Justice Solomon wrote this opinion, issued today, for a unanimous Court. The question was whether, in this condemnation case, the Law...

Avis Budget Group Cannot Force Customers to Arbitrate

Bacon v. Avis Budget Group, Inc., 959 F.3d 590 (3d Cir. 2020). Plaintiffs rented vehicles from defendant Payless Car Rental, Inc., a subsidiary of defendant Avis Budget Group, Inc. (together,...

From Judge Vernoia, a Discussion of "Opening the Door," The Rule of Completeness, and Lay Opinion Testimony

Grewal v. Greda, 463 N.J. Super. 489 (App. Div. 2020). This far too belated post is about a very informative opinion by Judge Vernoia last week. The case was one...

The Third Circuit Opines, for the First Time, About "Overview Testimony"

United States v. Lacerda, 958 F.3d 196 (3d Cir. 2020). This lengthy opinion by Judge Porter affirmed a jury verdict convicting several defendants of mail fraud and wire fraud. Defendants...

When is an Ordinance a "Zoning Ordinance"?

Shipyard Associates, L.P. v. City of Hoboken, 242 N.J. 23 (2020). [Disclosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, represents the City of Hoboken and certain of its agencies and officials...

"Proliferate and Exceedingly Intimate" Text Messages Can Amount to a "Dating Relationship" That Supports Issuance of a Restraining Order

C.C. v. J.A.H., 463 N.J. Super. 419 (App. Div. 2020). The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, N.J.S.A. 2C;25-17 et seq., allows the issuance of a restraining order for the protection...

A Third Circuit Ruling in Favor of Association Standing

New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, Inc. v. Mazda Motors of America, 957 F.3d 390 (3d Cir. 2020). In Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Comm'n, 432 U.S. 333 (1977),...

Back in Action

The appellate courts have not been idle since the most recent post on this blog. Opinions have been issued, the Supreme Court has taken up more cases for review, and...

Forfeiture of Entire Public Pension Due to Guilty Plea of Accepting $300 Bribe is Not an Unconstitutional "Excessive Fine"

State v. Anderson, 463 N.J. Super. 168 (App. Div. 2020). Defendant, formerly employed by the Jersey City Tax Assessor's office, pled guilty to a federal criminal charge of interference with...

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The Second and Third Published Appellate Division Decisions of the Current Term

As September turned to October, the Appellate Division issued its second and third published opinions of the Term. One was a decision by Judge Vinci in a civil appeal. The other ruling, in a criminal appeal, was authored by Judge Perez Friscia....

Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: Did it Violate a Class Action Settlement That Barred Mass Opt-Outs to Allow Opt-Outs From a Marketing Campaign That Solicited Opt-outs?

On Tuesday, September 30, judges on Part G of the Appellate Division will hear oral argument in Esposito v. Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless. The case follows from a $100 million nationwide class action settlement that had required class members who decided to exclude themselves from the settlement and potentially pursue their own litigation against Verizon to opt out individually, and barred mass opt-outs. However, Murphy Advocates, LLC, a Colorado law firm conducted a marketing campaign to create a mass opt-out that attracted about 11,000 class members who responded to Murphy that they wished to opt out....

A Pair of New Criminal Appeals for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two new cases. Both are criminal appeals. One is from a published opinion of the Appellate Division, while the other is from an unpublished per curiam decision by a three-judge panel....

Can a Plaintiff in a Civil Case Refuse to Testify at Trial After Being Served With a Defense Notice in Lieu of Subpoena and Having Been Ordered to Testify by the Trial Judge? An Anniversary

On this date in 2005, the Supreme Court decided Gonzalez v. Safe & Sound Sec. Corp., 185 N.J. 100 (2005). The case involved a plaintiff who was shot in an apartment building in Atlantic City, which left him paralyzed. He brought a negligence suit against a number of defendants, including Atlantic City Housing & Urban Renewal Associates ("ACHURA"), the owner of the apartment building....