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

Two Issues Under the Construction Statute of Repose

Town of Kearny v. Brandt, 214 N.J. 76 (2013). Deciding when the ten-year construction statute of repose, N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1.1, begins to run is often a difficult issue for courts. In this case,...

Frustration of Purpose and Impossibility of Performance Must be Pleaded as Affirmative Defenses

JB Pool Management, LLC v. Four Seasons at Smithville Homeowners Ass'n, Inc., 431 N.J. Super. 233 (App. Div. 2013). Plaintiff, a pool management company, contracted with defendant condominium association to supply lifeguards...

Ski Act Does Not Govern Accidents Between Skiers

Angland v. Mountain Creek Resort, Inc., 213 N.J. 99 (2013). Plaintiffs' decedent had a skiing accident with a snowboarder, from which plaintiff's' decedent later died. His estate sued the ski area and the...

The "Gray Area" of Sidewalk Liability

Grijalba v. Floro, 431 N.J. Super. 57 (App. Div. 2013). As Judge Fasciale's opinion in this case shows in detail, issues of whether and when a property owner is liable for injuries...

Commercial Landlord Has No Duty to Ensure That Building's Water Supply is Free of Legionnaire's Disease

Vellucci v. Allstate Ins. Co., 431 N.J. Super. 39 (App. Div. 2013). Plaintiff's decedent was employed by Allstate at an office building owned, designed, built, and managed by Mack-Cali Realty, L.P. Plaintiff...

Reading the Plain Language of the Patients First Act

Nicholas v. Mynster, 213 N.J. 463 (2013). Until the advent of the New Jersey Medical Care Access and Responsibility and Patients First Act, codified in part at N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-41, "in medical-malpractice cases, physician experts...

No Municipal Liability for 911 Calls

Turner v. Irvington Tp., 430 N.J. Super. 274 (App. Div. 2013). This opinion by Judge Parrillo reversed the denial of the defendant Township's motion for summary judgment in a case that sought...

Grammar and the Municipal Land Use Law

Mahwah Realty Associates, Inc. v. Mahwah Tp., 430 N.J. Super. 247 (App. Div. 2013). This case, in which plaintiffs sought to block development of a health club, has been back and forth to the...

Hypothetical Questions to an Expert Witness

Townsend v. Pierre, 429 N.J. Super. 522 (App. Div. 2013). Though this case, which arose out of an auto accident, is a decision on summary judgment, it may be of greatest interest to...

Eyewitness Testimony and the Dram Shop Act

Halvorsen v. Villamil, 429 N.J. Super. 568 (App. Div. 2013). Does the Dram Shop Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:22A-1 to -7, which makes a licensed alcholic beverage server liable for serving a visibly intoxicated...

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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....