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

The Supreme Court Takes Up a Miranda Case

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in State v. Ahmad, an appeal from a manslaughter conviction. The question presented there, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's...

Third-Party Defendant Not Sued Directly by Plaintiff Must Still Participate at Trial Absent a Valid Defense to the Third-Party Claim

Mejia v. Quest Diagnostics, Inc., 241 N.J. 360 (2020). Today's opinion by Justice Fernandez-Vina, for a unanimous Supreme Court, involved "whether a third-party defendant, facing only claims for contribution and...

Appellate Oral Arguments in the Time of Coronavirus

As announced here, the Supreme Court of the United States today advised that, "in light of public health concerns," it is postponing oral arguments that had been scheduled for March...

Sanctions, Damages for a Removed "Bamboo Fence," and a 4-3 Supreme Court Vote

Kornbleuth v. Westover, 241 N.J. 289 (2020). The Supreme Court of the United States frequently seems to split 5-4. It is relatively rare for the Supreme court of New Jersey...

The Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination

Wild v. Carriage Funeral Holdings, Inc., 241 N.J. 285 (2020). In this case, as discussed here, the Appellate Division reversed a trial level decision that had granted dismissal of plaintiff's...

Breaking the Silence

February 26 was the most recent post on this blog. From then until today, I have had an Appellate Division oral argument, an oral argument on a dispositive motion in...

A 3-2 Supreme Court Decision About the "Deemer" Statute

Felix v. Richards, 241 N.J. 169 (2020). This ruling of the Supreme Court today saw only five Justices participating since Justices Patterson and Timpone were recused. The remaining five Justices...

The Lodzinski Murder Case and Three Other Appeals Reach the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in four more cases. One of those matters, State v. Lodzinski, a murder case, has received substantial publicity during its lengthy...

Two Employment-Related Cases for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it will review two more cases. One of them is before the Court as of right, by virtue of a dissent in the Appellate Division....

A Charter School Case and Two Criminal Cases (One Involving the Movie "The Shining") Reach the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in three more cases. How can the case involving "The Shining" not be discussed first? That case is State v. Williams....

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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....