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

"Housing-Related" Disputes Between Condominium Unit Owners and A Condominium Association Must Go to ADR

Bell Tower Condominium Ass'n v. Haffert, 423 N.J. Super. 507 (App. Div. 2012). A condominium association imposed a special assessment on each of its five unit owners. The purpose of the assessment...

Discovery Rule Does Not Toll the Time to File a Notice of Claim Against a Public Entity

McDade v. Siazon, 208 N.J. 463 (2011). Under the Tort Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 59:8-8(a), one who wishes to make a tort claim against a public entity must first file a notice of...

Justice Patterson's First Opinion, and the "Rule of Lenity"

State v. Regis, 208 N.J. 439 (2011). It did not take long for Justice Patterson to write her first opinion for the Supreme Court. As is usually the case with the first...

New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority Must Reveal Financial Terms of Contracts for Perfomances at IZOD Center

Newark Morning Ledger Co. v. New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, 423 N.J. Super. 140 (App. Div. 2011). The Newark Star-Ledger filed a request under the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1...

"Appropriate Equitable Relief" Under ERISA is Qualified by Equitable Defenses and Limitations

US Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen, 663 F.3d 671 (3d Cir. 2011). After defendant McCutchen suffered a serious auto accident, a benefit plan administered by plaintiff US Airways paid him nearly $67,000 for his...

A Very Appropriate Case for Election Day, November 8

Since today, November 8, is Election Day, what better case could there be to highlight than In re Contest of November 8, 2005, 192 N.J. 546 (2007)? Not only did that...

"Legal Gymnastics" and "Undisclosed Legerdemain" Do Not Help the Defendant in a Consumer Fraud Case

Dugan v. TGI Friday's, 2011 WL 5041391 (App. Div. Oct. 25, 2011). Plaintiff bought a beer at the bar of a TGI Friday's restaurant and was charged $2.00. She then moved...

A "Tense" Decision

Santos-Reyes v. United States, 660 F.3d 196 (3d Cir. 2011). Under 8 U.S.C. §1229b(a), an alien who could otherwise be deported from the United States can have the deportation cancelled if the...

A Questionable Consumer Fraud Act Decision

Princeton Healthcare System v. Netsmart New York, Inc., 422 N.J. Super. 467 (App. Div. 2011). This opinion, written by Judge Skillman, involves "a negotiated contract between corporations for the installation and implementation...

Supreme Court Will Review "Kyleigh's Law" Case

The Supreme Court has granted review in Trautman v. Christie, 418 N.J. Super. 559 (App. Div. 2011). The decision of the Appellate Division was discussed here. The questions presented are...

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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....