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

The "Installment Contract" Approach to the Statute of Limitations

In re Estate of Balk, 445 N.J. Super. 395 (App. Div. 2016). Mark Roseman was the executor of a decedent's estate. The decedent's two sons sued Roseman for breach of...

The Facts Require Reversal of a Summary Judgment of Qualified Immunity

Winberry Realty Partnership v. Borough of Rutherford, 2016 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1019 (App. Div. May 4, 2016). [Disclosure: I represented the successful plaintiffs-appellants on this appeal]. Qualified immunity is...

Pleading Standards in Putative Class Actions in New Jersey State Courts

Baskin v. P.C. Richard & Son, LLC, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). [Disclosure: I am one of the counsel for the successful plaintiffs in this matter]. In this case, the Appellate...

An "Attagirl" for Judge Chrystal in a Long-Running Mount Laurel Case

Cranford Development Associates v. Cranford Tp., 445 N.J. Super. 220 (App. Div. 2016). This Mount Laurel litigation resulted in a builder's remedy for construction of a 360-unit residential development in...

Monetary Sanction is Imposed on Appellate Counsel for "Utter Indifference to the Standards of Professional Competence"

Sackman v. New Jersey Manufacturers Ins. Co., 445 N.J. Super. 278 (App. Div. 2016). [Disclosure: I represent New Jersey Manufacturers in certain litigation, but not in this case]. This opinion,...

Open Public Records Act Request That Requires Government to Create Records is Improper

Paff v. Galloway Tp., 444 N.J. Super. 495 (App. Div. 2016). John Paff is a frequent litigant under the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. ("OPRA"). In this...

NFL Concussion Settlement Affirmed in a Magnificent Third Circuit Opinion

In re NFL Players Concussion Injury Litig., 821 F.3d 410 (3d Cir. 2016). Too often, objectors to settlements of class action litigation "risk making the perfect the enemy of the...

Tort Claims Act Notice Need Not be Served on Private Government Contractor

Gomes v. County of Monmouth, 444 N.J. Super. 479 (App. Div. 2016). The Tort Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 59:1-1 et seq. ("TCA"), requires that a plaintiff who intends to sue a...

No Private Nuisance Liability for Natural Conditions

Scannavino v. Walsh, 445 N.J. Super. 162 (App. Div. 2016). Near the start of this opinion, issued today, Judge Leone concisely summarized the whole case and its outcome. "Plaintiff alleges...

When Can a Custodial Parent Relocate Out of State With the Children, and What if The Divorcing Parties Have a Non-Relocation Agreement?

Bisbing v. Bisbing, 445 N.J. Super. 207 (App. Div. 2016). N.J.S.A. 9:2-2 provides that children of divorced parents cannot be removed from the jurisdiction of the Superior Court "without the...

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The Last Seven Days

The last seven days, an especially busy period for me, featured one Supreme Court opinion and two published Appellate Division decisions. Here are summaries of those rulings:...

No Ethics Violation in Attorney Purchasing Another Attorney's Name as a Keyword for Internet Searches, the Supreme Court Says, With a Caveat

In re Opinion No. 735 of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). [Disclosure: I represented an amicus curiae in this appeal]. As Justice Noriega said in his opinion for a 5-1 majority (Justice Pierre-Louis did not participate), this appeal "presents the narrow question of whether it is permissible under the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) for an attorney or law firm to purchase a competing attorney's or law firm's name as a keyword." The Court found it permissible, with a caveat. Justice Fasciale dissented....

Four Criminal Law Cases, and a Qui Tam Appeal, for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted review in five new appeals. One of them is before the Court on leave to appeal, while in the others the Court granted certification....

The "Limited Attorney Exemption" of the Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act is Held Unconstitutional as Violative of the Separation of Powers and Void for Vagueness

Anchor Law Firm, PLLC v. State of New Jersey, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). The Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act, N.J.S.A. 17:16G-1 et seq. ("DACCA"), prohibits debt adjusters in New Jersey from operating for a profit. There is an exception for attorneys not "principally engaged" (a term not defined in the statute) in debt adjustment. That exception, adopted in a 1986 amendment, replaced a prior version of the DACCA that had exempted all attorneys from its scope....