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

The Appellate Division Limits DEP's Powers

Des Champs Laboratories, Inc. v. Martin, 427 N.J. Super. 84 (App. Div. 2012). This opinion by Judge Sabatino, for a unanimous Appellate Division panel, may lead to one of the most important Supreme Court decisions in years in the...

Records of Public Law School Clinics Are Not Subject to Open Public Records Act

Sussex Commons Assocs., LLC v. Rutgers, the State University, 210 N.J. 531 (2012). Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and its two law schools are unquestionably subject to the Open Public Records...

Will Properly Admitted to Probate Even Though Decedent Didn't Sign It

In re Estate of Richard Ehrlich, 427 N.J. Super. 64 (App. Div. 2012). Richard Ehrlich, a trust and estates lawyer, died. The only purported will of his that could be found was...

Conflicting Dictionaries II

Taniguchi v. Kan Pacific Saipan, Ltd., 132 S.Ct. 1997 (2012). About seventeen months ago, the Appellate Division had a personal injury protection (PIP) case, Perez v. Farmers Mutual Fire Ins. Co., 417 N.J. Super....

A Perplexing Exercise in Interpreting an Administrative Regulation

US Bank, N.A. v. Hough, 210 N.J. 187 (2012). There seems to be infinite room for judges, or Justices, to disagree about how to interpret statutes or regulations. Sometimes, there are differences even...

Wrongful Death Act Claim for Estate Tax Impact of Premature Death May Go Forward

Beim v. Hulfish, 427 N.J. Super. 560 (App. Div. 2012). The first paragraph of this very interesting opinion by Judge Harris, in an auto accident case, well encapsulates the novel issue presented:...

Work Product Doctrine and Common Interest Privilege Exempt Documents From Disclosure Under OPRA or Common Law Right of Access

O'Boyle v. Borough of Longport, 426 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2012). This is yet another Open Public Records Act ("OPRA") case. Plaintiff was a frequent antagonist of the defendant Borough, hostility...

Cap on Sick Leave Payments to School Administrators Upheld

New Jersey Ass'n of School Adminstrators v. Schundler, 211 N.J. 535 (2012). This case required the Supreme Court to parse and reconcile an unusually complex scheme of statutes and regulations that dealt...

An Organization is Not an "Individual"

Mohamad v. Palestinian Authority, 132 S.Ct. 1702 (2012). When Justice Alito spoke at the last Third Circuit Conference, he said that most of the Supreme Court's work does not deal with constitutional...

If Your Employer Tells You That You "Have to Resign," And You Do Resign, You Have Not Left Your Job "Voluntarily"

Lord v. Board of Review, 425 N.J. Super. 187 (App. Div. 2012). Did an employee who accepted his employer's directive that he "had to resign" leave his job "voluntarily" so as to disqualify...

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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....