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

A Solomonic Decision Under Rule 4:5-1(b)(2)

Kent Motor Cars, Inc. v. Reynolds & Reynolds Co., 207 N.J. 428 (2011). Rule 4:5-1(b)(2) requires the first pleading of each party to disclose the names of any non-party who...

An Excellent Overview of the Statute of Repose

Port Imperial Condominum Ass'n, Inc. v. K. Hovnanian Port Imperial Urban Renewal, Inc., 419 N.J. Super. 459 (App. Div. 2011). The statute of repose, N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1.1, prevents a cause of action for...

More Criticism of Strategies Contrived to Make an Interlocutory Order Appear Final

Conforti v. Kantorowski, 2011 WL 1433764 (App. Div. April 15, 2011). The Appellate Division often expresses displeasure, or worse, with stratagems designed to obtain immediate appellate review of a decision that is...

Public Employer May Deny Use of Compensatory Time on Requested Date Even Without Showing Undue Disruption

Nutley Policemen's Benevolent Ass'n v. Township of Nutley, 419 N.J. Super. 160 (App. Div. 2011). The federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") , 29 U.S.C. §§201-219, requires a public employer who gives an...

If You Feel Threatened and Ask for Help, The Helper May Sue You if He/She Gets Injured

Estate of Desir v. Vertus, 418 N.J. Super. 310 (App. Div. 2011). "[W]here an imperiled person draws in another to his predicament, it is foreseeable that the person drawn in will be...

Some Philadelphia Rail Stations are Unlawfully Handicapped-Inaccessible, Third Circuit Says

Disabled in Action of Pennsylvania v. SEPTA, 635 F.3d 87 (3d Cir. 2011). The Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), a federal statute, by definition applies nationwide. As a result, the Third Circuit's decision in...

The Power of a Power of Attorney

AMB Property, LP v. Penn America Ins. Co., 418 N.J. Super. 441 (App. Div. 2011). The plaintiff's warehouse tenant, Mystic, obtained a liability insurance policy from the defendant, through the defendant's agent, Jimcor. Imperial, a...

Mortgagee Lacks Standing to Enforce Note and Mortgage Unless Documents are Properly Authenticated

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Ford, 418 N.J. Super. 592 (App. Div. 2011). The question of whether foreclosing mortgagees have the proper proofs to support their cases has been all over the news...

Entity That Purchases Another Entity's Assets Can be Liable for Delinquent ERISA Fund Contributions

Einhorn v. M.L. Ruberton Const. Co., 632 F.3d 89 (3d Cir. 2011). When two firms merge, the successor firm may be liable for delinquent ERISA fund contributions of the predecessor. But where one entity...

Some Lessons About Motions for Reconsideration

Nead v. Union Cty. Educ. Servs. Comm'n, 2011 WL 166205 (App. Div. Jan. 20, 2011). This case, which resulted in a reversal of a trial court's decision to dismiss an employment discrimination case, teaches several things...

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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....