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

Trial Counsel Not Ineffective Even Though He Was Paid by a Prosecution Witness, Defendant's Co-Parent and Girlfriend

State v. Kearney, 479 N.J. Super. 539 (App. Div. 2024). This appeal was from the denial of post-conviction relief. Defendant had been convicted of murder and other offenses. He raised...

The First Two Supreme Court Grants of Review in the 2024-25 Term

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted review in two appeals. They are the first grants of review of the current Term. One involves a grant of leave...

A Rare Appellate Division Published Opinion After a Grant of Reconsideration

State v. Morgan, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2024). As discussed here, the Appellate Division issued a published opinion in this case. As a reminder, that ruling addressed "a...

Two by Judge Susswein

State v. Barclay, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2024); State v. Wildgoose, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2024). Judge Susswein seems often to write published opinions in criminal...

Returning From the Break- Appellate Division Opinions

During this blog's early August break, the Appellate Division issued three published opinions. Here are summaries: T.B. v. I.W., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2024). This was an appeal...

Yesterday and Today

The final two days of July saw one Supreme Court opinion and two published opinions by the Appellate Division. Here are summaries: New Jersey Division of Child Protection & Permanency...

The Past Week in the Appellate Division

Since last Friday, one week ago, the Appellate Division issued three published opinions (not counting its opinion in the Verizon case that the Supreme Court decided yesterday, in which the...

Last Week's Short Week: Not Short for the Appellate Division

While many took advantage of the fact that July 4 fell on Thursday of last week to close early on July 3 and/or remain closed on July 5, the Appellate...

A DEP Case With a Constitutional Twist for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in In re Appeal of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's September 6, 2022 Denial of Request for Adjudicatory Hearing....

Wrapping Up June

June came to a close last week. There were no Supreme Court decisions. The Appellate Division, however, issued five published opinions. Only one of them was discussed, here. Here are...

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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....