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

"The Record on Appeal" at the NJSBA Annual Meeting

Today's seminar, which was sponsored by the NJSBA Appellate Practice Committee, took up the important topic of the record on appeal. Judge Messano, who headed up the panel, began by...

A Guardian of a Child Who Did Not Intervene to Stop Severe Corporal Punishment by the Child's Mother is Guilty of Abuse and Neglect

New Jersey Division of Child Permanency & Protection v. J.L.G., 450 N.J. Super. 113 (App. Div. 2015), aff'd o.b., 229 N.J. 113 (2017). This abuse and neglect case resulted in...

An Anniversary in Supreme Court Certified Questions

In recent years, acceptance by the Supreme Court of questions certified to it by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals under Rule 2:12A has become somewhat more frequent, though still...

Four New Supreme Court Grants of Review: Criminal Law, OPRA, and Self-Critical Analysis Privilege

The Supreme Court announced this morning that it has granted review in four more cases. Two of them address discovery issues, and two involve criminal matters. In Brugaletta v. Garcia,...

A Violation of a Regulation Can be "Knowing" Even if There is No Judicial Decision Saying So at the Time of the Conduct at Issue

Allstate Ins. Co. v. Northfield Medical Center, P.C., 228 N.J. 596 (2017). After a bench trial, defendants were found to have violated the Insurance Fraud Prevention Act, N.J.S.A. 17:33A-1 to...

A Criminal Justice Reform Act Case for the Supreme Court in September

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted review in State v. Newman. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's Office, is "Did the trial court...

The Supreme Court and the Hospital/Horizon OMNIA Two-Tiered Provider Network Dispute

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in Saint Peter's University Hospital, Inc. v. Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc. That case, and related litigation involving hospitals and Horizon, has...

The Supreme Court Accepts Another TCCWNA Certified Questions Case

The Supreme Court has announced that it has accepted the request of the Third Circuit, in two consolidated cases, to answer certified questions about the Truth in Consumer Contract, Warranty,...

Notice of Disapproval of a Residential Real Estate Contract May Now be Given by Facsimile and Electronic Mail

Conley v. Guerrero, 228 N.J. 339 (2017). Today's decision in this case, written by Justice Solomon for a unanimous Court, largely affirmed the ruling of the Appellate Division, reported at...

A Bail Reform Act Case, A "John Doe" Civil Case, and More Criminal Appeals Are Added to the Supreme Court's Docket

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted review in three cases. The first arises under the new Bail Reform Act. The question presented there, as phrased by the...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 545556 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99…Last

"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....