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

January, So Far

With the coming of the new year, this blog went onto a new platform. That fact, along with a Supreme Court oral argument and a Committee on Character hearing last week, has left this blog behind as 2025 begins. Our appellate courts, however, have been active. Here are summaries of their January 2025 published opinions to date:...

The Days Before Christmas

No one can say that in the days before Christmas, "not a creature was stirring" in our appellate courts. The Supreme Court issued one decision and the Appellate Division published...

The Supreme Court Will Review Four Unpublished Appellate Division Decisions

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in four new matters. All of those involve unpublished opinions of the Appellate Division. In State v. Taylor, the question presented...

One From the Supreme Court and One From the Appellate Division

Rodriguez v. Shelbourne Spring, LLC, ___ N.J. ___ (2024). The first signed opinion of the current Term was by Justice Fasciale. The Court addressed issues relating to whether Hartford Underwriters...

Court-Appointed Attorney and Temporary Guardian in "Alleged Incapacitated Person" Case Under Rule 4:86 Have No Right to Fees Against Office of Adult Protective Services

In the Matter of A.D., an Alleged Incapacitated Person, ___ N.J. ___ (2024). This case was an appeal from a decision of the Appellate Division, discussed here, that the Office...

An Anniversary in Administrative Law

On December 4, 1973, the Supreme Court decided Mayflower Sec. Co. v. Bureau of Securities, 64 N.J. 85 (1973). The Bureau of Securities had suspended the registration of Mayflower, a...

Can a Municipality be Sanctioned Under the Frivolous Litigation Statute? The Supreme Court Will Decide

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in Borough of Englewood Cliffs v. Trautner. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's office, is "Is a...

Charity Care, A Graves Act Issue, and a Warrantless Search of an Arrestee's Vehicle at a Police Station Come Before the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in three new appeals. The lone civil case in that group is Englewood Hospital & Medical Center v. State of New...

A Criminal Appeal Involving the "Duty to Retreat," and a Civil Case About the Statute of Limitations for Breach of an Installment Contract

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two new appeals. One is a criminal matter and the other a civil case. The criminal case is State v....

A New Required Certification for Appellate Briefs

The Supreme Court's September 4, 2024 Order providing for the posting online of most Appellate Division and Supreme Court briefs in argued cases, discussed here, has led to an interim...

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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....