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

The Anniversary of Petrillo v. Bachenberg (Liability of Attorneys to Non-Clients)

On this date in 1995, the Supreme Court decided Petrillo v. Bachenberg, 139 N.J. 472 (1995). In the first sentence of his majority opinion, Justice Pollock framed the issue as...

"Appeal" Procedure to Same Judge Who Already Ruled "Below" Was Impermissible

In re Application for a Retail Firearms Dealer's License Renewal by Cayuse Corp. LLC, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2016). This decision, issued by Judge Ostrer for the Appellate...

A Win for Class Action Plaintiffs at the U.S. Supreme Court

Tyson Foods v. Bouaphakeo, ___ U.S. ___ (2016). This decision, issued today, is one of several closely-watched class action cases at the Supreme Court of the United States this year....

By What Means Can a Creditor Seize Certificated Securities Held by a Debtor?: A UCC Article 8 Decision

Wolverine Flagship Fund Trading Limited v. American Oriental Bioengineering, Inc., 444 N.J. Super. 530 (App. Div. 2016). This opinion, issued today by Judge St. John, involved the denial of injunctive...

An Exception to the General Rule That Appellate Courts Lack Jurisdiction Over Appeals From Dismissals Without Prejudice

S.B. v. Kindercare Learning Centers, LLC, 815 F.3d 150 (3d Cir. 2016). S.B., a four-year old girl, was injured at defendant's day care center. Her mother sued for negligence, on...

New Mother's Failure to Tell Hospital Staff That She Had Used Certain Medication During Pregnancy Constituted Child Abuse or Neglect

New Jersey Division of Child Protection & Permanency v. K.M., 444 N.J. Super. 325 (App. Div. 2016). This is another child abuse and neglect appeal, but one that contains an...

Despite Criticism of Its Brief as Disingenuous or Intentionally Misleading, the Division of Child Protection Wins Qualified Immunity

Mammaro v. New Jersey Div. of Child Protection & Permanency, 814 F.3d 164 (3d Cir. 2016). In this case, plaintiff brought a civil rights case against the New Jersey Division...

Insurer Under "Claims Made" Policy Issued to Sophisticated Insured Need Not Show Prejudice From Late Notice of Claim in Order to Disclaim Coverage

Templo Fuente De Vida Corp. v. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co., 224 N.J. 189 (2016). Insurance policies normally require insureds to provide timely notice of claims against them to their...

A Petition for Mandamus is Not an "Appeal"

In re Arunachalam, 812 F.3d 290 (3d Cir. 2016). A pro se plaintiff in related patent infringement cases in the District of Delaware sought to disqualify the District Judge. When...

Berry Unfortunate for Plaintiff, But Slip and Fall Claim Fails

Troupe v. Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp., 443 N.J. Super. 596 (App. Div. 2016). Today, Judge Suter authored her first published opinion for the Appellate Division. While shopping at a...

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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....

"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....