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

Kicking Off the New Term, The Supreme Court Grants Review in Five Cases

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in five cases. These are the first grants of the current Term. In HC Equities, LP v. County of Union, which...

Arbitration Clause is Enforceable Despite Absence of Specified Arbitration Forum

Flanzman v. Jenny Craig, Inc., 244 N.J. 119 (2020). As discussed here, the Appellate Division in this employment discrimination case held that an arbitration provision that did not specify a...

The Third Circuit Chips Away at Its Class Action Ascertainability Doctrine

Hargrove v. Sleepy's Inc., 974 F.3d 467 (3d Cir. 2020). Readers of this blog know of my distaste (to say the least) for the Third Circuit's unique interpretation of the...

Agreement Settling Disciplinary Charge Against a Public Employee is Exempt From Disclosure Under OPRA, But Perhaps Available Under Common Law

Libertarians for Transparent Government v. Cumberland County, 465 N.J. Super. 11 (App. Div. 2020). Judge Accurso issued this opinion for the Appellate Division today, the first published opinion in a...

A Municipal Court Appeal Triggers the Appellate Division's "Didactic Role as an Intermediate Appellate Court"

State v. Faber, 465 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2020). Today's opinion by Judge Fuentes in this case, which originated in Municipal Court and then went to the Law Division,...

The Third Circuit in High Gear

At this time of the year, our Supreme Court and Appellate Division go relatively quiet. But the Third Circuit often reaches a peak. Today, for example, that court issued five...

"Assault and Battery" Exclusion Barred Insurance Coverage for Fatal Tavern Shooting

Pickett v. Moore's Lounge, 464 N.J. Super. 549 (App. Div. 2020). This was an insurance coverage case. Plaintiff's decedent was shot to death at the defendant tavern by another patron...

Newark Validly Constituted a Civilian Complaint Review Board, But the Supreme Court Cuts Back That Board's Powers

Fraternal Order of Police, Newark Lodge No. 12 v. City of Newark, 244 N.J. 75 (2020). [Disclosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, represents the City of Newark in various...

Employer's Arbitration Provision Enforceable Even Though Employer Labeled it a "Training Module," Since Employee Understood She Was Agreeing to Arbitration

Skuse v. Pfizer, Inc., 244 N.J. 30 (2020). As discussed here, the Appellate Division in this case reversed a trial level ruling that compelled the plaintiff employee to arbitrate a...

Municipal Collective Bargaining Agreement as to Health Insurance Premium Contribution Rates is Overridden by State Statute

In re Ridgefield Park Bd. of Educ., 244 N.J. 1 (2020). The question in this case was whether health insurance premium contribution rates for members of the Ridgefield Park Education...

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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....