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

Tea Party Challenge to District Map Fails

Gonzalez v. State of New Jersey Apportionment Comm'n, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2012). The Tea Party has had little electoral success in New Jersey. Its efforts to achieve...

Chief Justice Rabner Elevates Judges Rodriguez and Cuff to the Supreme Court

In an Order issued yesterday, Chief Justice Rabner announced the elevation of Judges Rodriguez and Cuff to the Supreme Court effective October 1, 2012. The Chief Justice acted pursuant to...

Cornett v. Johnson & Johnson: A Fact-Specific Decision on Statute of Limitations, But Largely an Affirmance of the Ruling Below That Some of Plaintiffs' Claims are Not Pre-Empted

Cornett v. Johnson & Johnson, 211 N.J. 362 (2012). This is a long-awaited decision in the tort/medical device realm, involving as it does the issues of choice of law for statute...

Oral Settlement Agreement Reached During Mediation May be Enforced

Willingboro Mall, Ltd. v. 240/242 Franklin Avenue, LLC, 421 N.J. Super. 445 (App. Div. 2011). Normally, any settlement, even an oral settlement agreement, can be enforced. The question in this case was...

Statutory Amendment Trumps "Law of the Case"

In re Denial of Regional Contribution Agreement Between Galloway Tp. and City of Bridgeton, 418 N.J. Super. 94 (App. Div. 2011). The Council on Affordable Housing ("COAH") denied approval of a regional...

Broad Powers of an Arbitrator

Manger v. Manger, 417 N.J. Super. 370 (App. Div. 2010). The parties in this matrimonial action settled some of their differences before a judge shortly before a scheduled trial. They then agreed...

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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 "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....

Appellate Division Published Opinions During and After Its Recess

The final day of the Appellate Division's two-week recess was April 25. On that date, the Appellate Division issued a published opinion. Two more published opinions followed during the current week. Here are summaries of those opinions....