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

An Ethics Issue and Another Criminal Case for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in two more cases. The first, an ethics matter that could arise only in our current electronic age, comes to the...

When is an Ordinance a "Zoning Ordinance"?

Shipyard Associates, L.P. v. City of Hoboken, 242 N.J. 23 (2020). [Disclosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, represents the City of Hoboken and certain of its agencies and officials...

Stephen W. Townsend, Died April 22, 2020, at Age 75

I learned over the weekend that Stephen W. Townsend, the former Clerk of the Supreme Court had died. His obituary states that the date of his death was April 22...

45 Years Since Lind v. Schmid

On this day in 1975, the Supreme Court decided Lind v. Schmid, 67 N.J. 255 (1975). It has been cited well over one hundred times and is still a leading...

An Employment Law Anniversary: The "Lower Sights" Doctrine

Today is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. It's also Administrative Professionals Day, an opportunity for attorneys to recognize how essential our non-attorney staff is to our legal practice. Today...

2020 Law Graduates May Practice Immediately, as July Bar Exam is Cancelled, But Graduates Still Must be Certified by the Committee on Character in Order to Practice

As announced by Chief Justice Rabner here, the July Bar examination has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation. But that situation, the Supreme Court has concluded, after consulting with...

Where Jail Inmates Had Been Told That Their Telephone Calls Would be Monitored and Recorded, They Had No Reasonable Expectation of Privacy in Those Calls

State v. Jackson, 241 N.J. 547 (2020). In a per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court today affirmed the ruling of the Appellate Division in this case (actually, two consolidated cases),...

An Expungement Case and a "Conditional Res Ipsa Loquitur" Case for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two more cases. One arises out of a finding of child abuse and neglect. The other involves a request for...

Forfeiture of Entire Public Pension Due to Guilty Plea of Accepting $300 Bribe is Not an Unconstitutional "Excessive Fine"

State v. Anderson, 463 N.J. Super. 168 (App. Div. 2020). Defendant, formerly employed by the Jersey City Tax Assessor's office, pled guilty to a federal criminal charge of interference with...

This Week's Appellate Division Arguments Will be Conducted Telephonically

As stated here, all Appellate Division oral arguments through March 27 will be conducted telephonically rather than in person. There is no indication yet as to whether that will continue...

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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....