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

A Bountiful Harvest for the Supreme Court: Seven New Cases

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in seven more cases. One of those, the only civil case, is before the Court on leave to appeal, while the...

Incarceration is Not a Per Se Bar to Unemployment Benefits

Haley v. Board of Review, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). Here are the basic facts of this appeal as Justice Solomon summarized them in his opinion for the Court in this...

Painting Over Lines on a Paved Street is Not "Obstructing" the Street

State v. Williams, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Defendant was convicted in Municipal Court for violating an ordinance that stated that "No person shall unnecessarily obstruct any...

Justice Pierre-Louis's First Opinion for the Court

State v. Outland, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). This unanimous ruling was the first opinion authored by Justice Pierre-Louis. It was a robbery case in which defendant, who had a prior...

Criminal Statute of Limitations and the Effect of DNA Testing: The Supreme Court Will Speak

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted certification to review the Appellate Division's decision in State v. Thompson. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's...

Successor Liability (or Non-Liability) on a Commercial Lease

160 West Broadway Associates, LP v. 1 Memorial Drive, LLC, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Judge Messano issued this opinion for the Appellate Division today. Though there were...

The Supreme Court Addresses the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

Delanoy v. Township of Ocean, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). As discussed here, the Appellate Division issued the first opinion regarding the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a component of the New...

The Direct Action Statute and Arbitration

Crystal Point Condominium Ass'n v. Kinsale Ins. Co., 466 N.J. Super. 471 (App. Div. 2021). Plaintiff filed a construction defect litigation regarding balconies and slabs at plaintiff's 42-story condominium building....

Another Mass Tort Case Headed for the Supreme Court?

Hrymoc v. Ethicon, Inc., 467 N.J. Super. 42 (App. Div. 2021). This lengthy opinion by Judge Sabatino reversed trial verdicts for plaintiffs in two product liability cases involving pelvic mesh...

Unemployment is Not "Substituted Employment," and Unemployment Benefits Are Not "Pay or Salary"

Ciripompa v. Bd. of Educ. of Borough of Bound Brook, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Judge Gummer well summarized her opinion for the Appellate Division today in its...

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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....