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

Three Appellate Division Judges Are Temporarily Assigned to Sit on the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has been functioning for months with four Justices, plus Judge Fuentes on temporary assignment. Judge Fuentes is due to retire on September 1. At that time, the...

The 2022-2023 General Assignment Order, With Some Shakeups in the Appellate Courts

Today, Chief Justice Rabner issued the 2022-2023 General Assignment Order. From an appellate perspective, the headline news is that Judges Fisher, Sabatino, and Fasciale have been temporarily assigned to the...

The Appellate Division Will Sit in Freehold on August 16

Most Appellate Division oral arguments occur in a few locations, such as Trenton, Newark, Morristown, and Hackensack (though that is not an exhaustive list). Occasionally, however, the Appellate Division sits...

Another Temporary Assignment to the Appellate Division for Three Judges

Chief Justice Rabner announced that Judges Berdote Byrne, Bishop-Thompson, and Marczyk have each been temporarily assigned to the Appellate Division, effective August 1, 2022. There is no end date for...

Marie Hanley is Promoted to Deputy Clerk of the Appellate Division

Chief Justice Rabner announced that Marie Hanley has been appointed as Deputy Clerk of the Appellate Division. For the past nearly seven years, Marie has served as Chief Counsel for...

"Summer Breeze Makes Me Feel Fine" and Brings in the Appellate Division's Summer Parts Schedule

This year's "summer" song, to introduce the just-announced Appellate Division summer Parts schedule, is by Seals & Croft. The schedule is different this year as compared to previous ones. Instead...

Judge Smith Discusses When the Third Circuit Will Certify a Question to a State's Highest Court

United States v. Defreitas, ___ F.4th ___ (3d Cir. 2022). This case came out of the Virgin Islands. Its subject matter was the conviction of defendant, an enforcement officer for...

Judge Chagares Becomes Chief Judge Chagares

As of December 4, as stated here, New Jersey's own Judge Chagares became Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. That occurred as a result of the fact...

A New Order of the Supreme Court Regarding COVID and Post-COVID Procedures Says That Supreme Court and Appellate Division Oral Arguments "Will Generally Proceed in Person"

Today, Chief Justice Rabner issued an order regarding procedures for both the period while the COVID-19 epidemic persists and thereafter. The order runs over six pages and addresses numerous types...

Chief Judge Smith Will Step Down as Chief Judge of the Third Circuit

Chief Judge Smith announced that he will be stepping down as Chief Judge. He will shortly reach age 70, the age limit for serving as Chief Judge of the Third...

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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....