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

Insurance, Attorneys' Fees in a Common Law Right of Access to Public Documents Case, and Expungement Under the Cannabis Act Will be Before the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in three new cases. Two of them, both civil matters, were grants of certification. The third appeal, a criminal case, is...

Judicial, Equitable, and Collateral Estoppel, as Well as Waiver, Barred a Municipality's Arguments in the Mount Laurel Context

In re Borough of Englewood Cliffs, 473 N.J. Super. 189 (App. Div. 2022). Judge Gilson's opinion for the Appellate Division in this case today arose out of the settlement of...

Tolling of Statute of Limitations for Claims by Minors Does Not Apply to Minors Who Have Died, and on Whose Behalf a Wrongful Death Case is Brought

Monk v. Kennedy University Hospital, Inc., 473 N.J. Super. 178 (App. Div. 2022). This opinion today by Judge Berdote Byrne is, I believe, her first published decision for the Appellate...

Two Supreme Court Grants of Leave to Appeal From Published Opinions

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted leave to appeal in two cases. Both are from published opinions of the Appellate Division. DiFiore v. Pezic involves three cases that...

Two by Justice Albin

Fowler v. Akzo Nobel Chemicals, Inc., 251 N.J. 300 (2022); Linden Democratic Committee v. City of Linden, 251 N.J. 415 (2022). As Justice Albin's tenure on the Supreme Court nears...

Tinted Windows and Automobile Stops

State v. Smith, 251 N.J. 244 (2022). Here is how Justice Solomon began his opinion for a unanimous Court in this case today: "N.J.S.A. 39:3-74 prohibits operation of a vehicle...

Parties That Behaved Wrongfully Could Not Demand Marketability Discount in Shareholder Buyout Case

Sipko v. Koger, Inc., ___ N.J. ___ (2022). This is the second time that this intra-family business divorce case came before the Supreme Court. The first iteration, which dates back...

Three Supreme Court Decisions in Criminal Cases

The last few days have seen three opinions by the Supreme Court in criminal appeals. Here are summaries of those decisions: State v. Rivas, 251 N.J. 132 (2022). This opinion...

Another Temporary Assignment to the Appellate Division for Three Judges

Chief Justice Rabner announced that Judges Berdote Byrne, Bishop-Thompson, and Marczyk have each been temporarily assigned to the Appellate Division, effective August 1, 2022. There is no end date for...

The Appellate Division Decides the First COVID-19 Business Interruption Cases in Favor of Insurers

Mac Property Group, LLC v. Selective Fire & Cas. Ins. Co. , 473 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2022). [Disclosure: I am counsel for insureds in another appeal regarding the...

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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....