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

Public Utilities Are Not Exempt From Municipal Regulation

New Jersey Natural Gas Co. v. Borough of Red Bank, 438 N.J. Super. 164 (App. Div. 2014). New Jersey Natural Gas ("NJNG") proposed to remove underground gas regulators located in...

Irwin Kimmelman (1930-2014)

Irwin I. Kimmelman, who served as an Assemblyman in the 1960's, as Attorney General of the State of New Jersey in the Kean administration from 1982-86, and as a judge of...

Relaxed Standard of Coventry Square, Not Stricter Standard of Medici, Applies to Proof of Negative Criteria for Conditonal Use Variances

TSI East Brunswick, LLC v. East Brunswick Bd. of Adj., 215 N.J. 26 (2013). The Municipal Land Use Law ("MLUL"), N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70(d)(3), authorizes applications for conditional use variances. A conditional use is...

"Appearance of Impropriety" Standard Continues to Apply to Quasi-Judicial Municipal Bodies

Kane Properties, LLC v. City of Hoboken, 214 N.J. 199 (2013). This opinion by Justice Hoens affirms, as modified, the decision of the Appellate Division in this municipal land use matter, reported at...

Use Variance Applicant Need Not Show That Subject Property is the Only Available Site for the Use

Price v. Himeji, LLC, 214 N.J. 263 (2013). Himeji, LLC applied to the Union City Board of Adjustment for a use variance, density, height, and other variances, and a waiver necessary for the construction of a...

More About Notice Under the Municipal Land Use Law

Northgate Condominium Ass'n, Inc. v. Hillsdale Planning Bd., 214 N.J. 120 (2013). Opponents of land use development applications sometimes contest the adequacy of the notice given by development applicants, as occurred in...

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...

"The Song Remains the Same": There's No Automatic Right to Appeal an Interlocutory Order, and Improper Appeals Will be Dismissed

House of Fire Christian Church v. Clifton Bd. of Adj., 426 N.J. Super. 157 (App. Div. 2012). The Appellate Division has repeatedly admonished parties, attorneys, and trial level judges that it is improper to...

A Welding Business is a "Home Occupation" Under a Broad Ordinance

Columbro v. Lebanon Tp. Bd. of Adj.., 424 N.J. Super. 501 (App. Div. 2012). Defendants Michael and Frances Edwards obtained a conditional use variance that allowed them to conduct a welding business in...

Supreme Court Will Review Municipal Land Use Conflict of Interest Case

The Supreme Court has granted review of the decision in Kane Properties, LLC v. City of Hoboken, 423 N.J. Super. 49 (App. Div. 2011). The Appellate Division's decision is discussed here. The...

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Appellate Division Published Opinions During and After Its Recess

The final day of the Appellate Division's two-week recess was April 25. On that date, the Appellate Division issued a published opinion. Two more published opinions followed during the current week. Here are summaries of those opinions....

"Ethics in Appellate Practice" Seminar at the NJSBA Annual Meeting on May 15

I will be moderating a panel titled "Ethics in Appellate Practice" that will help kick off Day 2 of the New Jersey State Bar Association Annual Meeting on May 15. The presentation will be from 8:45-10 AM. It will feature Judge Gummer of the Appellate Division and distinguished appellate practitioners with experience in and perspectives on ethics in the appellate context from both the plaintiffs' and the defendants' sides....

With the Appellate Division's Recess Over, The Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week is Another Waiver of Arbitration Case

On Tuesday, April 29, judges on Part F of the Appellate Division will hear oral argument in Newport Associates Development Co. v. Chubb Ins. Co. The appeal arises out of the denial by the Law Division of the motion of defendant AIG Specialty Insurance Company ("ASIC") to compel arbitration of plaintiffs' claim for indemnity in connection with underlying litigation with Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. and Public Service Electric and Gas Company. The Law Division held that ASIC had waived its contractual right to demand arbitration....

Another Quartet of New Cases for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in four new appeals. Three are from unpublished opinions of the Appellate Division, while the fourth is from a published decision in a criminal case....