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

Mount Laurel's Ban on Billboards is Not Unconstitutional

Interstate Outdoor Advertising, L.P. v. Mt. Laurel Tp. Bd. of Adj., 706 F.3d 527 (3d Cir. 2013). The Township of Mount Laurel, best known for its role in a series of affordable...

Another "Off-Premises Liability" Case

Nielsen v. Wal-Mart Store #2171, 429 N.J. Super. 251 (App. Div. 2013). Defendant Wal-Mart Store #2171 owned a unit in a multi-unit condominium development owned by another defendant. Plaintiff was an employee...

Two Issues Under the Construction Lien Law

L&W Supply Corp. v. DeSilva, 429 N.J. Super. 179 (App. Div. 2012). In Craft v. Stevenson Lumber Yard, Inc., 179 N.J. 56 (2004), the Supreme Court ruled that a supplier of materials...

Conflicting Unpublished Opinions Lead to a Published Decision

Badiali v. New Jersey Manufacturers Ins. Group., 429 N.J. Super. 121 (App. Div. 2012). As Judge Fisher noted at the start of his opinion, the Appellate Division previously ruled, in a case...

A Warning From the First Circuit: An Appeal Where Briefs Did Not Adequately Cite the Record or Argue Caselaw is Dismissed

Machado-Rodriguez v. Shinseki, 700 F.3d 48 (1st Cir. 2012). This was an employment discrimination case, a type of lawsuit that the First Circuit Court of Appeals recognized is often complex. Summary judgment was granted...

General Contractor Found Not Liable for Injuries to Subcontractor's Employee

Tarabokia v. Structure Tone, 429 N.J. Super. 103 (App. Div. 2012). "The issue is whether, under the circumstances presented, the general or prime contractor has a duty to ensure the safety of...

City Not Liable for Partial Demolition of Burning Building Where Necessary to Fight the Fire

Crystal Ice-Bridgeton, LLC v. City of Bridgeton, 428 N.J. Super. 576 (App. Div. 2012). Plaintiff's building caught fire. Bridgeton firefighters responded and were at the site for nine hours. While the fire...

Where a Shopping Center Lease Requires the Landlord to Maintain the Parking Lot, a Tenant is Normally Not Liable to a Patron Injured in That Lot

Kandrac v. Marrazzo's Market at Robbinsiville, 429 N.J. Super. 79 (App. Div. 2012). "[A]s a general rule, when a commercial tenant in a multi-tenant shopping center has no control or contractual obligation...

Firing Alcoholic Employee for Failing Random Alcohol Test Required Only of Alcoholics, Where No Issue of Job Performance was Raised, Could Violate NJLAD

A.D.P. v. ExxonMobil Research & Eng. Co., 428 N.J. Super. 518 (App. Div. 2012). Plaintiff had worked for defendant ("Exxon") for over 29 years. Exxon required her to sign an agreement that...

When a Party Dies

Giles v. Campbell, 698 F.3d 153 (3d Cir. 2012). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25 addresses what happens when a party dies during the pendency of a case. Plaintiff, a...

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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....