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

Public Employees Lose Again, as Supreme Court Upholds Suspension of Pension Cost of Living Adjustments

Berg v. Christie, 225 N.J. 245 (2016). Today's decision in this closely-watched case shows once again the importance of the standard of review applied. In a 6-1 decision by Justice...

When is a Child Witness Competent to Testify?

State v. Bueso, 225 N.J. 193 (2016). Today, the Supreme Court addressed the issue of how a trial court should evaluate the competency of a child witness to testify. The...

Temporary Help Service Firms vs. Employment Agencies, and Registration vs. Licensure

AIT Global Inc. v. Yadav, 445 N.J. Super. 513 (App. Div. 2016). Plaintiff in this case was a temporary help service firm ("THSF") that provided short-term information technology consultants for...

An Important Religion Case for the Supreme Court

American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey v. Hendricks, 445 N.J. Super. 452 (App. Div. 2016). In 1978, the Supreme Court decided Resnick v. East Brunswick Bd. of Educ., 77...

Gun Control Act is Constitutional as Applied to Machine Guns, and a Trust That Owns a Machine Gun is Subject to That Law

United States v. One Palmetto State Armory PA-15 Machinegun, 822 F.3d 136 (3d Cir. 2016). Constitutional challenges to gun regulations are frequently filed, and most of them are without basis....

The "Installment Contract" Approach to the Statute of Limitations

In re Estate of Balk, 445 N.J. Super. 395 (App. Div. 2016). Mark Roseman was the executor of a decedent's estate. The decedent's two sons sued Roseman for breach of...

Open Public Records Act Request That Requires Government to Create Records is Improper

Paff v. Galloway Tp., 444 N.J. Super. 495 (App. Div. 2016). John Paff is a frequent litigant under the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. ("OPRA"). In this...

NFL Concussion Settlement Affirmed in a Magnificent Third Circuit Opinion

In re NFL Players Concussion Injury Litig., 821 F.3d 410 (3d Cir. 2016). Too often, objectors to settlements of class action litigation "risk making the perfect the enemy of the...

No Private Nuisance Liability for Natural Conditions

Scannavino v. Walsh, 445 N.J. Super. 162 (App. Div. 2016). Near the start of this opinion, issued today, Judge Leone concisely summarized the whole case and its outcome. "Plaintiff alleges...

The Third Circuit Applies Campbell-Ewald and Rejects an Attempt to Moot a Class Action by Buying Off the Named Plaintiff

Weitzner v. Sanofi Pasteur, Inc., 819 F.3d 61 (3d Cir. 2016). Earlier this year, in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, 136 S.Ct. 663 (2016), discussed here, the Supreme Court of the...

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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....