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

The Supreme Court Will Reconsider Its 3-3 Decision in State v. Lodzinski, with Judge Fuentes Added as a Seventh Jurist

State v. Lodzinski, 248 N.J. 451 (2021). In an extraordinary development, the Supreme Court has granted defendant's motion for reconsideration in this long-running, closely-watched murder case. Since Chief Justice Rabner...

The Supreme Court Takes Up a Compassionate Release Case

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted certification in State v. F.E.D. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's office, is "Was defendant eligible for...

Published Opinions From New Jersey's Appellate Courts This Week

Catching up with our appellate courts, here are summaries of the three published opinions (two by the Supreme Court and one by the Appellate Division, in addition to the COVID...

"Appellate Advocacy Perfected" Webcast

On November 15, 2021, I will be a panelist on an NJICLE webcast titled "Appellate Advocacy Perfected." Headlined by Judges Fisher and DeAlmeida, and featuring a representative of the Appellate...

An Unsurprising Grant of Review by the Supreme Court

As discussed here, earlier this year, the Appellate Division affirmed in part and reversed in part the Law Division's dismissal of a case that challenged an ordinance of the City...

Four New Cases for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in four new matters. Two of the cases are civil appeals and two are criminal matters. In East Bay Drywall, LLC...

City of Newark May Impose, and Need Not Negotiate Over, a COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for City Employees

In re City of Newark and Newark Police Superior Officers Ass'n, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). [Disclosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg & Afanador, LLC, represents the City...

This Week in the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court issued its first three opinions of the new Term this week. Here are summaries of those rulings: Bozzi v. City of Jersey City, ___ N.J. ___ (2021)....

The First Grants of Supreme Court Review of the New Term

The Supreme Court announced its first group of new cases for this Term. Of the three cases, each came to the Court by a different route. A-1-21, State v. Ramirez,...

A Reminder From the Appellate Division About Confidential Information

A Notice to the Bar, dated September 1, 2021, was published late yesterday. It is available here. Issued by Judge Messano, the Notice is titled "APPELLATE DIVISION REMINDER TO COUNSEL...

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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....