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

No Affidavit of Merit Needed for Vicarious Liability Claim Based Solely on Actions of Person Not Listed Among "Licensed Persons" by the Affidavit of Merit Statute

Haviland v. Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County, Inc., 466 N.J. Super. 126 (App. Div. 2021). In her opinion for the Appellate Division in this case today, Judge Rose summed...

The Supreme Court Will Review G.C. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted certification in G.C. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's...

Revised Children in Court Standards are Issued, But Without Change to Appeal-Related Items

The Supreme Court announced Directive # 03-21, available here. That Directive supersedes Directive # 18-17. The new Directive "promulgates a revised set of Children in Court (CIC) standards as approved...

An OPRA Case for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in Libertarians for Transparent Government v. Cumberland County. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's office, is "Is...

Use in Summation of a Picture From "The Shining" Takes the Shine Off a Robbery Conviction

State v. Williams, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). In this case, defendant, accused of robbing a bank, was convicted of second degree robbery. That crime requires force or the threat of...

The Supreme Court Follows Plain Statutory Language and Limits the "Good Faith Defense" Under the Wage and Hour Law

Branch v. Cream-O-Land Dairy, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). As summarized here, the Appellate Division in this overtime Wage and Hour Law ("WHL") class action case reversed a summary judgment ruling...

Former Rutgers Graduate Student Can Obtain His Own Student Records Under OPRA

Doe v. Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Today, the Appellate Division, speaking through Judge Sumners, issued a decision under the Open...

Gubernatorial Pardon Dissolves Statutory Bar on Expungement of Convictions

In re Petition for Expungement of the Criminal Record Belonging to T.O., ___ N.J. ___ (2021). The first Supreme Court opinion of 2021, issued this morning, was authored by Chief...

The Appellate Division Declines to Follow an Outmoded Errors and Appeals Decision About Age-Related Lay Opinion Testimony

State v. Gerena, 465 N.J. Super. 548 (App. Div. 2021). Defendant was convicted of fourth degree lewdness. A statutory grading element of that offense is that one or more of...

Mistrial In Murder Case Interrupted by COVID-19 Pandemic Was Not an Abuse of Discretion

State v. Smith, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2020). Perhaps fittingly, the final published Appellate Division of 2020, written by Judge Fasciale and issued today, centered on the COVID-19...

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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....