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

Future Advance Mortgages: The Law From the Past Remains the Law (With Perhaps One Exception) in the Present

Rosenthal & Rosenthal, Inc. v. Benun, 226 N.J. 41 (2016). A future advance mortgage, in broad outline, is a mortgage that secures a loan that is made in stages, rather...

"Insurance Coverage and Undersized Broiler Chickens"

Phibro Animal Health Corp. v. National Union Fire Ins. Co., 446 N.J. Super. 419 (App. Div. 2016). When it comes to whatever the judicial opinion equivalent is of "click-bait," few...

A "Graduating Class" Means a Group of Students Who Complete an Educational Program and Receive Diplomas or Certificates in the Same Given Year

In re Revocation or Suspension of Provisional Accreditation of Eastwick College LPN-to-RN Bridge Program, 225 N.J. 533 (2016). As Justice Patterson reminded us in her opinion in this case today,...

The Supreme Court Answers a Certified Question About Take-Home Toxic Torts

Schwartz v. Accuratus Corp., 225 N.J. 517 (2016). A "take-home toxic tort" is very different than a take-home final examination or take-out foods. It refers to a cause of action...

Child Pornography and Collateral Estoppel

Doe v. Hesketh, 828 F.3d 159 (3d Cir. 2016). Today, the Third Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Greenaway, ruled in a case of a child victim of federal crimes...

Twenty One Day Advance Voter Registration Requirement is Held Constitutional

Rutgers University Student Assembly v. Middlesex Cty. Bd. of Elections, 446 N.J. Super. 221 (App. Div. 2016). This appeal involved the constitutionality of N.J.S.A. 19:31-6.3b, which requires eligible voters to...

An Ice Skater is (Wrongly?) Tripped Up by the Exhaustion Doctrine

Davidovich v. Israel Ice Skating Federation, 446 N.J. Super. 127 (App. Div. 2016). The subculture that is international competitive sport came to the Appellate Division in this case yesterday. Judge...

No Need for a Law Firm LLP to Have "Tail" Insurance, Says the Supreme Court

Mortgage Grader, Inc. v. Ward & Olivo, LLP, 225 N.J. 423 (2016). Justice Fernandez-Vina issued an opinion in this legal malpractice appeal today, his first opinion in quite some time,...

Failure to Recreate the District Court Record as Ordered Leads to a Loss on Appeal

Roberts v. Ferman, 826 F.3d 117 (3d Cir. 2016). Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 10(c) deals with the circumstance in which a transcript of a District Court hearing or trial...

Law Against Discrimination Statute of Limitations Cannot be Shortened by Contract

Rodriguez v. Raymours Furniture Co., Inc., 225 N.J. 343 (2016). Plaintiff became employed by defendant, who is better known to the public as Raymour & Flanigan. The employment application that...

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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....

"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....