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

The Supreme Court Will Take Up a DNA Case

The Supreme Court has added one more case to its docket. That case is State v. Camey, in which the Court granted leave to appeal. The question presented, as phrased...

Mark Neary, Clerk of the Supreme Court, Will Retire

Mark Neary, who has served as Clerk of the Supreme Court for over nine years, will retire in November of this year. A search is on for his replacement. A...

Rice Letters, and Making Meeting Minutes of Public Bodies "Promptly Available," Under the Open Public Meetings Act

Kean Federation of Teachers v. Morell, 233 N.J. 566 (2018). Yesterday's opinion by Justice LaVecchia reversed in part and affirmed as modified a decision of the Appellate Division that was...

"Time of Application" Rule for Development Kicks in When All Documents Required by Ordinance Are Submitted

Dunbar Homes, Inc. v. Franklin Tp. Bd. of Adj., 233 N.J. 546 (2018). In a development application under the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. ("MLUL"), the law...

Another Criminal Case, and Two Cases Involving Civil Claims by Police Officers, Will Get Supreme Court Review

The Supreme Court has announced that it has granted review in three more cases. Two of them resulted from unpublished Appellate Division rulings in cases where police officers are the...

Governor Murphy Nominates Justice Patterson for Tenure

Governor Murphy announced yesterday that he is nominating Justice Patterson for tenure on the Supreme Court. Justice Patterson has served with distinction on the Court for the past seven years....

OPRA Requires Disclosure of the Names of Successful Bidders at Public Auctions of Government Property

Brennan v. Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, 233 N.J. 330 (2018). This opinion by Chief Justice Rabner, for a unanimous Supreme Court, addressed an issue that arose under the Open Public...

The Latest Supreme Court Grants of Review: A Tort Claims Act Notice Case, and the Effect of Zoning Board Conflict of Interests

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in two more cases. The first is O'Donnell v. New Jersey Turnpike Authority. The question presented in that appeal, as phrased...

Should Two Attorneys be Able to Split an Appellate Oral Argument?

The Supreme Court announced that it is seeking comments on a proposed amendment to Rule 2:11-1(b)(3). That rule, which deals with oral argument in the appellate courts, currently states that...

The "Single Publication Rule" in the Internet Age, and the "Fair Report" Privilege

Petro-Lubricant Testing Laboratories, Inc. v. Adelman, 233 N.J. 236 (2018). This defamation case, which involves an internet article about an employment discrimination lawsuit that was thereafter reprinted in somewhat different...

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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....