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

The Year's Longest Published Appellate Division Decision

Kaye v. Rosefielde, 432 N.J. Super. 421 (App. Div. 2013). This first post of the 2013-2014 Term focuses on the longest published decision issued by the Appellate Division in the just-ended 2012-2013...

The Third Circuit Speaks About Rule 404(b) "Prior Bad Act" Evidence

Here is another guest post from Jeffrey A. Shooman, who was then my colleague at Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, on an important criminal law decision of the Third Circuit: United...

The Supreme Court Rejects "Jury Homework"

State v. Morgan, 217 N.J. 1 (2013). In State v. Morgan, 423 N.J. Super. 453 (App. Div. 2011), discussed here, the Appellate Division found no bar to a trial judge...

Argument Not Raised Below, and Raised on Appeal Only in a Footnote, Would Not be Considered

Oyola v. Liu, 431 N.J. Super. 493 (App. Div. 2013). The main thrust of this opinion by Judge Alvarez was to affirm a decision of the Law Division that granted summary...

The Supreme Court Resolves a Family Business Dispute

Sipko v. Koger, Inc., 214 N.J. 364 (2013). Sometimes, it is not clear why the Supreme Court grants review. When the Court granted certification in this case, which involved a dispute among...

Frustration of Purpose and Impossibility of Performance Must be Pleaded as Affirmative Defenses

JB Pool Management, LLC v. Four Seasons at Smithville Homeowners Ass'n, Inc., 431 N.J. Super. 233 (App. Div. 2013). Plaintiff, a pool management company, contracted with defendant condominium association to supply lifeguards...

The Timeliness of Estate-Related Litigation

In re Estate of Thomas, 431 N.J. Super. 22 (App. Div. 2013). Rule 4:85-1 establishes a short time period (four months for New Jersey residents and six months for non-residents, subject to...

District Court Can Raise Statute of Limitations Problem Sua Sponte at Initial Conference

Lassiter v. City of Philadelphia, 716 F.3d 53 (3d Cir. 2013). The initial conference under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16 is a time for the court to set a proper course...

A Fine Mess Involving the Designation of Trial Counsel Rule

Hernandez v. North Jersey Neurosurgical Assocs., 2013 N.J. Super. LEXIS 1146 (App. Div. May 14, 2013). This decision, in a medical malpractice case, was designated as not precedential, but perhaps should be reconsidered...

The Appellate Division Will Now Strictly Enforce Certain Rules

In a Notice to the Bar, the Appellate Division has announced that, effective July 1, 2013, the Clerk's Office will begin "strictly enforcing" various time limitations and page restrictions of the Court Rules....

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No Ethics Violation in Attorney Purchasing Another Attorney's Name as a Keyword for Internet Searches, the Supreme Court Says, With a Caveat

In re Opinion No. 735 of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). [Disclosure: I represented an amicus curiae in this appeal]. As Justice Noriega said in his opinion for a 5-1 majority (Justice Pierre-Louis did not participate), this appeal "presents the narrow question of whether it is permissible under the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) for an attorney or law firm to purchase a competing attorney's or law firm's name as a keyword." The Court found it permissible, with a caveat. Justice Fasciale dissented....

Four Criminal Law Cases, and a Qui Tam Appeal, for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted review in five new appeals. One of them is before the Court on leave to appeal, while in the others the Court granted certification....

The "Limited Attorney Exemption" of the Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act is Held Unconstitutional as Violative of the Separation of Powers and Void for Vagueness

Anchor Law Firm, PLLC v. State of New Jersey, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). The Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act, N.J.S.A. 17:16G-1 et seq. ("DACCA"), prohibits debt adjusters in New Jersey from operating for a profit. There is an exception for attorneys not "principally engaged" (a term not defined in the statute) in debt adjustment. That exception, adopted in a 1986 amendment, replaced a prior version of the DACCA that had exempted all attorneys from its scope....

Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: Where a Party Files a Suit Alleged to Violate the UPEPA But Quickly Dismisses It, Can Defendants Then Get Counsel Fees Under the Statute?

On May 15, judges on Part C of the Appellate Division will hear oral argument in Satz v. Keshet Starr. Plaintiff, acting pro se, filed a defamation suit against defendants. Defendants filed an o order to show cause to dismiss the case and for attorneys' fees under the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-49 et seq. ("UPEPA"). The UPEPA, enacted in 2023, sought to make it more difficult to use the legal system as a weapon to bully individuals into silence by filing what have been known as SLAPP ("strategic lawsuits against public participation") suits....