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

A Flaw in a Model Jury Charge, Part 2

Flood .v. Aluri-Vallabhaneni, 431 N.J. Super. 365 (App. Div. 2013). On June 4, in Koseoglu v. Wry, 431 N.J. Super. 140 (App. Div. 2013), a panel consisting of Judges Messano, Lihotz and Kennedy, in...

Appellate Division Will Hear a Challenge to the Special Senatorial Election

In an Order filed late yesterday, and available here, the Appellate Division granted the emergent application of challengers to Governor Christie's writ of election that scheduled a special primary election...

Appellate Division Summer Emergent Duty Schedule is Issued

The Appellate Division Emergent Duty Summer Schedule, covering June 10-September 8, was made public this morning. Although the schedule is subject to change, as the Appellate Division itself has noted, no judge...

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 This decision, in a medical malpractice case, was designated as not precedential, but perhaps should be reconsidered...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 Enforces a Settlement Agreement Between Attorney Litigants

Wolf v. Galex, 2013 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1053 (App. Div. May 6, 2013). [Dislosure: I am co-counsel for Mr. Wolf in this matter, and I argued this appeal before the Appellate...

Unnecessary Supersedeas Bond Legislation Redux

Yesterday, Senate Bill 2052 was proposed for introduction. The legislation would limit the amount of an appeal bond in civil actions to $50 million. This same legislation was proposed in 2012,...

Trial Judge Erred in Limiting Medical Malpractice Plaintiff to One Expert Only

McLean v. Liberty Health System, 430 N.J. Super. 156 (App. Div. 2013). This opinion by Judge Ashrafi addresses a number of evidence issues. The most important, however, relates to the decision of...

Is Mandatory Judicial Retirement at 70 Unconstitutional?

Article VI, section 6, paragraph 3 of the New Jersey Constitution provides that Justices of the Supreme Court and judges of the Superior Court "shall be retired upon attaining the...

Third Circuit Oral Arguments Continue to Decline

On February 14, this blog reported on an article documenting a substantial decline in oral arguments in appeals before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The statistics reported in that article...

Editorial: It's Time to Take Up Governor Christie's Supreme Court Nominations

On December 10, 2012, Governor Christie nominated Robert Hanna, currently the Director of the Board of Public Utilties, and Judge David Bauman of the Superior Court of Monmouth County, to...

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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....