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

The Second Half of August

As usually occurs with the current Term nearing its end, the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division have issued relatively few opinions in the second half of August. Here are...

The Supreme Court Overrules New Jersey's "New Business" Rule That Barred New Businesses From Seeking Lost Profits Damages

Schwartz v. Menas, 251 N.J. 556 (2022). [Disclosure: I argued this case for the successful plaintiffs, having handled the appeal along with co-counsel, Giovanni DePierro of DePierro Radding]. In 1936,...

Three Appellate Division Judges Are Temporarily Assigned to Sit on the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has been functioning for months with four Justices, plus Judge Fuentes on temporary assignment. Judge Fuentes is due to retire on September 1. At that time, the...

The 2022-2023 General Assignment Order, With Some Shakeups in the Appellate Courts

Today, Chief Justice Rabner issued the 2022-2023 General Assignment Order. From an appellate perspective, the headline news is that Judges Fisher, Sabatino, and Fasciale have been temporarily assigned to the...

Insurance Policy Exclusion Was Clear and Did Not Require a Causal Relationship

Norman International, Inc. v. Admiral Ins. Co., 251 N.J. 538 (2022). This case arose out of an injury to an employee of Home Depot in Nassau County, New York while...

The Appellate Division Will Sit in Freehold on August 16

Most Appellate Division oral arguments occur in a few locations, such as Trenton, Newark, Morristown, and Hackensack (though that is not an exhaustive list). Occasionally, however, the Appellate Division sits...

The First Week of August

The dog days of summer often see the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division issuing opinions in cases argued earlier in the Term. The Third Circuit is often more active...

Two New Criminal Appeals for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in two new criminal appeals. One of those matters came to the Court on leave to appeal, while certification was granted...

An Opinion About Stays From Judge Accurso

In re New Jersey Transit Award of Contracts No. 21-048A and 21-048B, 473 N.J. Super. 261 (App. Div. 2022). Published opinions from appellate courts about stays are relatively rare. Today,...

45 Years Since Manning Engineering, Inc. v. Hudson County Park Commission

On this date in 1977, the Supreme Court decided Manning Engineering, Inc. v. Hudson County Park Comm'n, 74 N.J. 113 (1977). The unanimous opinion by Justice Pashman vacated a judgment...

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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....