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

Non-Delegable Duties: Horrific Facts Don't Make New Law

Davis v. Devereux Foundation, 209 N.J. 269 (2012). Under the Restatement of Agency (Second), §219(2)(c), when one has a duty to protect others and delegates that duty to an agent, such as an...

Professional Association Has Standing to Sue on Behalf of Its Members, and Court Would Overlook Procedural Deficiency, But Association Still Loses on the Merits

New Jersey Dental Ass'n v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 424 N.J. Super. 160 (App. Div. 2012). Many cases have rightly held that, under New Jersey's liberal standing rules, organizations have standing to...

Citizens of Walsh Act Municipalities Have the Same Right to a Referendum on Authorizing Indebtedness as Citizens of Other Types of Municipalities Do

In re Petition for Referendum to Repeal Ordinance 2010-27 of Margate City, 424 N.J. Super. 242 (App. Div. 2012). The Home Rule Act, N.J.S.A. 40:49-27, establishes the right to a public referendum...

Police Officer Who Enters Premises in the Line of Duty is At Least a Licensee, to Whom Landowner Owes a Duty of Care

Rowe v. Mazel Thirty, LLC, 209 N.J. 35 (2012). Plaintiff was a police officer whose duties in a "Safe Streets" program included checking vacant apartment buildings for drugs or other illicit activity. Plaintiff was going down...

Public Agency Supervisor May be Individually Liable Under Family Medical Leave Act

Haybarger v. Lawrence County Adult Probation & Parole, 667 F.3d 408 (3d Cir. 2012). Plaintiff Debra Haybarger worked for defendant, an agency of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas. Plaintiff has several...

Tort Claims Act Bars Bicyclist's Injury Claim Due to Small Depression in Shoulder of Road

Polzo v. County of Essex, 209 N.J. 151 (2012). Plaintiff's wife was riding with other bicyclists on the shoulder of an Essex County road. She rode over a 1-1/4? depression (a dip in...

Repossession Company is Not "User by Permission" of Repossessed Automobile

Repossession Specialists v. Geico Ins. Co., 423 N.J. Super. 518 (App. Div. 2012). Annetta Jackson defaulted on her car loan, and Repossession Specialists ("Repossession") was sent to repossess the vehicle. After the...

A "Real Estate Manager," Yes, But Whose "Real Estate Manager"?

Cambria v. Two JFK Blvd, LLC, 423 N.J. Super. 499 (App. Div. 2012). Plaintiff was injured when he fell in the parking lot of a strip mall owned by defendant Two JFK...

Discovery Rule Does Not Toll the Time to File a Notice of Claim Against a Public Entity

McDade v. Siazon, 208 N.J. 463 (2011). Under the Tort Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 59:8-8(a), one who wishes to make a tort claim against a public entity must first file a notice of...

Third Circuit, En Banc, Affirms Settlement of Diamond Antitrust Class Action

Sullivan v. DB Investments, Inc., 667 F.3d 273 (3d Cir. 2011). By a 7-2 vote, the Third Circuit, sitting en banc, disagreed with a panel decision (613 F.3d 134 (3d Cir. 2010)), vacated...

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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....