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

No Need for a Law Firm LLP to Have "Tail" Insurance, Says the Supreme Court

Mortgage Grader, Inc. v. Ward & Olivo, LLP, 225 N.J. 423 (2016). Justice Fernandez-Vina issued an opinion in this legal malpractice appeal today, his first opinion in quite some time,...

Two Days, Two New Law Against Discrimination Opinions From the Supreme Court

In each of the last two days, the Supreme Court issued unanimous opinions involving the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 to -42 ("LAD"). Yesterday, in Smith v. Millville...

Public Employees Lose Again, as Supreme Court Upholds Suspension of Pension Cost of Living Adjustments

Berg v. Christie, 225 N.J. 245 (2016). Today's decision in this closely-watched case shows once again the importance of the standard of review applied. In a 6-1 decision by Justice...

Hospitals Lose Their Appeal of Horizon's OMNIA Health Alliance

Capital Health System, Inc. v. New Jersey Dep't of Banking & Insurance, 445 N.J. Super. 522 (App. Div. 2016). In September 2015, the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance...

Temporary Help Service Firms vs. Employment Agencies, and Registration vs. Licensure

AIT Global Inc. v. Yadav, 445 N.J. Super. 513 (App. Div. 2016). Plaintiff in this case was a temporary help service firm ("THSF") that provided short-term information technology consultants for...

An "Attagirl" for Judge Chrystal in a Long-Running Mount Laurel Case

Cranford Development Associates v. Cranford Tp., 445 N.J. Super. 220 (App. Div. 2016). This Mount Laurel litigation resulted in a builder's remedy for construction of a 360-unit residential development in...

Office of Attorney Ethics May Investigate Grievance That District Ethics Committee Had Declined to Docket

Robertelli v. New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics, 224 N.J. 470 (2016). As today's decision by Chief Justice Rabner describes in exquisite detail, the Supreme Court has established two different...

Open Public Records Act Request That Requires Government to Create Records is Improper

Paff v. Galloway Tp., 444 N.J. Super. 495 (App. Div. 2016). John Paff is a frequent litigant under the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. ("OPRA"). In this...

Tort Claims Act Notice Need Not be Served on Private Government Contractor

Gomes v. County of Monmouth, 444 N.J. Super. 479 (App. Div. 2016). The Tort Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 59:1-1 et seq. ("TCA"), requires that a plaintiff who intends to sue a...

Shareholder Quorum Requirement Cannot be Altered by Changing the Bylaws

Sterling Laurel Realty, LLC v. Laurel Gardens Co-Op, Inc., 444 N.J. Super. 470 (App. Div. 2016). A majority of the board of the defendant residential co-op development became frustrated that...

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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....