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

Supreme Court and Appellate Division Published Decisions This Week

An enjoyable sojourn in Atlantic City for the New Jersey State Bar Association Annual Meeting and Convention delayed this post. I had the privilege of being part of a panel...

Two More Cases Against Sky Zone, Both Involving Arbitration Clauses

Matullo v. Skyzone Trampoline Park, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2022); Perez v. Sky Zone LLC, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2022). Sky Zone, an entertainment operation, has...

The "Sham Affidavit Doctrine" in an Unusual Context

Metro Marketing, LLC v. Nationwide Vehicle Assurance, Inc., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2022). As discussed here, the "sham affidavit doctrine" holds that a party opposing summary judgment cannot...

The Supreme Court Takes Up Two More Cases, One Civil and One Criminal

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two new cases. One is a civil matter, in which a two-judge Appellate Division panel issued an unpublished per curiam...

In a Closely-Watched Case, Sundiata Acoli Wins Parole by a 3-2 Supreme Court Vote

Acoli v. New Jersey State Parole Bd., ___ N.J. ___ (2022). A 2-1 Appellate Division decision, discussed here, upheld the New Jersey State Parole Board's decision to deny parole to...

When, if at All, Can a Rule 4:19 Examination be Recorded, and When, if Ever, Can a Third Party be Present During an Examination?

DiFiore v. Pezic, 472 N.J. Super. 100 (App. Div. 2022). This opinion by Judge Sabatino exhaustively explored, in three consolidated cases, the issue of "when, if ever, a plaintiff with...

"Summer Breeze Makes Me Feel Fine" and Brings in the Appellate Division's Summer Parts Schedule

This year's "summer" song, to introduce the just-announced Appellate Division summer Parts schedule, is by Seals & Croft. The schedule is different this year as compared to previous ones. Instead...

Lessons for Police in the Miranda Warnings Context, From Chief Justice Rabner

State v. O.D.A.-C., ___N.J. ___ (2022). Everyone knows, even if only from watching police procedurals on television, about the warnings that Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), requires police...

The Appellate Division in the Second Half of April- A Partial Recap

Until yesterday, when the Supreme Court issued this opinion, the Court did issue any decisions in the time following the last post on this blog on April 13. The Appellate...

Public Bidding Was Required to Select a Redeveloper for the Bergen County Courthouse

Dobco, Inc. v. Bergen County Improvement Authority, ___ N.J. ___ (2022). In its first opinion in several weeks, the Supreme Court today affirmed, in a per curiam opinion substantially for...

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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....