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

Conversion Therapy Providers Must Pay Damages Provided for in a Settlement Agreement for Breaching That Agreement and Violating a Related Injunction

M.F. v. JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing f/k/a Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality), _2021 N.J. Super. LEXIS ______ (App. Div. 2021). [Disclosure: I argued this appeal for...

Interest on Pension Loan From Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund That Was Not Charged When Due Cannot be Waived

Zilberberg v. Board of Trustees, Teachers' Pension & Annuity Fund, ___ N.J. Siper. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Barbara Zilberg, a former school psychologist, got a pension loan in 2004 from...

Governor Murphy's Moratorium on Residential Evictions Does Not Extend to Squatters

Talmadge Village, LLC v. Wilson, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). This short (six-page) opinion by Judge Enright today focuses on the effect of Governor Murphy's Executive Order No....

Motions to Terminate Alimony Obligations Due to Cohabitation or Remarriage Are to be Treated Like Summary Judgment Motions

Temple v. Temple, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). When plaintiff Jeffrey Temple and defendant Cynthia Temple divorced, they entered into a marital settlement agreement, incorporated into their 2004...

Both a Tax Collector and Her Municipal Employer Can be Liable Under Civil Rights Acts for Improper Refusal to Redeem Property to Avoid Foreclosure

Winberry Realty Partnership v. Borough of Rutherford, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). [Disclosure: I am one of the counsel for the successful plaintiffs in this case.] This case has a long...

Two Rulings in Criminal Cases by the Supreme Court

State v. Szemple, ___ N.J ___ (2021); J.K. v. New Jersey State Parole Bd., ___ N.J. ___ (2021). The Court decided these two criminal appeals in the last two days....

This Week in the Appellate Division

The Appellate Division issued four published opinions this week (two on Monday and two yesterday). Here are summaries of those rulings: Wilhelm v. Ryder Logistics & Transportation Solutions, ___ N.J....

Despite Commissioner of Education's Failure to Address Segregative Effects of Expansion of Seven Newark Charter Schools, Those Expansions Stand

In re Renewal Application of TEAM Academy Charter School, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). Justice Patterson's decision for a unanimous Supreme Court today addressed whether, when considering the expansion applications of...

Complaint-Summonses From a Municipal Police Department Can be Obtained Under the Open Public Records Acts

Simmons v. Mercado, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). Justice Pierre-Louis issued this unanimous opinion for the Supreme Court today. The issue was "whether a records request for complaint-summonses from a municipal...

A Jury Could Find That a Supervisor's Use of Two "Highly Offensive" Slurs Created a Hostile Work Environment

Rios v. Meda Pharmaceutical, Inc., ___ N.J. ___ (2021). In Taylor v. Metzger, 152 N.J. 490 (1998), the Supreme Court held that a single racial epithet "was sufficiently severe to...

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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....