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

Potential Future Tax Assessments Are Not a Cloud on Title to Real Estate

Princeton South Investors, LLC v. First American Title Ins. Co., 437 N.J. Super. 283 (App. Div. 2014). This opinion by Judge Reisner addressed two issues: "in the context of a...

Peter Cammarano, III, Former Hoboken Mayor Involved in Dwek Sting Operation, is Disbarred

In re Peter J. Cammarano, III, 219 N.J. 415 (2014). "An elected official who sells his office– who offers favored treatment to a private developer in exchange for money– betrays...

Quest Defeats Class Certification at the Third Circuit

Grandalski v. Quest Diagnostics, Inc., 767 F.3d 175 (3d Cir. 2014). Plaintiffs filed a putative class action in which they alleged that defendant, a company that performs medical lab tests,...

Placing Debtor's Account Number on Envelope of Collection Letter is Not Permitted by the FDCPA

Douglass v. Convergent Outsourcing, 765 F.3d 299 (3d Cir. 2014). The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. §1692f(8) ("FDCPA"), forbids debt collectors from putting on the envelopes of debt...

A Warning to Appellate Lawyers From Judge Fuentes

Walters v. YMCA, 437 N.J. Super. 111 (App. Div. 2014). This decision by Judge Fuentes, issued today, reverses a grant of summary judgment in favor of the YMCA in what...

Violent Rap Lyrics Are Not Admissible to Show Criminal Intent or Motive Unless Directly Connected to the Crime Charged

This is another guest post by my colleague at Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, Jeffrey A. Shooman: State v. Skinner, 218 N.J. 496 (2014). I've blogged before about Federal Rule of...

25 Years Since Decker v. Princeton Packet (Mistaken Report of One's Death is Not Defamatory)

On August 8, 1989, the Supreme Court decided Decker v. Princeton Packet, 116 N.J. 418 (1989), one of the leading cases in New Jersey on defamation and infliction of emotional...

Eminent Domain Act Does Not Require Condemning Authority to Negotiate With Anyone Other Than Record Title Holder

Borough of Merchantville v. Malik & Son, LLC, 218 N.J. 556 (2014). In this eminent domain case, the Appellate Division held that, in taking a piece of property by condemnation,...

Error of "Constitutional Dimension" Can Still be Harmless Error

State v. Camacho, 218 N.J. 533 (2014). It is an error "of constitutional dimension" for a trial judge in a criminal case to fail to instruct the jury that it...

The Availability of Class Arbitration is for a Court, Not an Arbitrator, to Decide

Opalinski v. Robert Half Int'l Inc., 761 F.3d 314 (3d Cir. 2014). In this case under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §201 et seq. ("FLSA"), plaintiffs signed employment agreements...

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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....

"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....