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

The Third Circuit is Unhappy About Motions for Overlength Briefs

In an order entered yesterday and issued per curiam, on behalf of the entire Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Chief Judge McKee directed that "a three-judge Standing Motions Panel is hereby...

Jury Homework

State v. Morgan, 423 N.J. Super. 453 (App. Div. 2011). Rule 1:8-8(a) states that a trial court, "in its discretion, may submit a copy of all or part of its instructions to...

An Open Public Records Act Case, With a Bonus Discussion of Attorney-Client Privilege, the Work Product Doctrine, and the Anti-Bullying Act

K.L. v. Evesham Tp. Bd. of Educ., 423 N.J. Super. 337 (App. Div. 2011). There are not many published appellate cases in New Jersey that discuss in any detail the attorney-client privilege...

Settling the Record- Rule 2:5-5(a)

State v. Yough, 208 N.J. 385 (2011). The main focus of this opinion by Justice Albin was whether the Law Division abused its discretion in declining to grant a mistrial when a...

Direct Certification of Cases by the Supreme Court, Bypassing the Appellate Division

The Supreme Court's grant last Thursday of direct certification of the judges' pension case, DePascale v. New Jersey, has generated some controversy. Governor Christie, for example, criticized the Court for preempting Appellate Division review....

Supreme Court Oversight of Bar Applicants' Character and Fitness

Often overlooked is the fact that the Supreme Court of New Jersey is more than just the court of last resort for state court appeals. Under Article VI, section 2,...

The Perils of Being a Pro Se Appellant

Barna v. Maldonado, 2011 WL 5244968 (App. Div. Nov. 4, 2011). The two appellants, who were plaintiffs in this case, appeared pro se. In the Law Division, they had won a jury...

Failure to Provide Trial Court's Supplemental Opinion to Appellate Division Dooms Appeal

Raspavolo v. New Jersey State Police, 2011 WL 2848475 (App. Div. Sept. 20, 2011). Plaintiff appealed the January 22, 2010 denial of his motion to vacate a previously entered dismissal of...

Calculating the Available Discovery Period

Jatczyszyn v. Marcal Paper Mills, Inc., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2011). The key issue in this case involves how to calculate the discovery period permitted by the Court Rules in a circumstance where...

Affidavit of Merit Statute Does Not Apply to Unlicensed Persons, and Some Other Lessons

Albrecht v. Correctional Medical Services, 422 N.J. Super. 265 (App. Div. 2011). The Affidavit of Merit statute, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-26 to -29, makes the submission of an affidavit that a suit has merit...

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No Ethics Violation in Attorney Purchasing Another Attorney's Name as a Keyword for Internet Searches, the Supreme Court Says, With a Caveat

In re Opinion No. 735 of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). [Disclosure: I represented an amicus curiae in this appeal]. As Justice Noriega said in his opinion for a 5-1 majority (Justice Pierre-Louis did not participate), this appeal "presents the narrow question of whether it is permissible under the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) for an attorney or law firm to purchase a competing attorney's or law firm's name as a keyword." The Court found it permissible, with a caveat. Justice Fasciale dissented....

Four Criminal Law Cases, and a Qui Tam Appeal, for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted review in five new appeals. One of them is before the Court on leave to appeal, while in the others the Court granted certification....

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....