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

Remittitur Decisions Cannot Take Account of Awards in Other Cases

Cuevas v. Wentworth Group, 226 N.J. 480 (2016). In He v. Miller, 207 N.J. 230 (2011), the Supreme Court addressed issues of remittitur at length and in detail. Among other...

The Supreme Court Will Review a Family Law Case and a Search Warrant Case

The Supreme Court has announced that it has granted review in two cases. The first matter, Bisbing v. Bisbing, arises out of the Family Part. The Appellate Divsiion's decision, reported...

Municipal Ban on Digital Billboards is Unconstitutional

E&J Equities v. Franklin Tp. Bd. of Adj. , 226 N.J. 549 (2016). Billboards are not everyone's favorite thing. Many view them as a blot on the landscape (and not...

The Anniversary of Cox v. Sears Roebuck

On this date in 1994, the Supreme Court decided Cox v. Sears Roebuck & Co., 138 N.J. 2 (1994). This unanimous opinion by Justice Clifford continues to be one of...

As Expected, The Supreme Court Takes Up Another Affordable Housing Case, and Expedites the Appeal

In In re Declaratory Judgment Actions Filed by Various Municipalities, 446 N.J. Super. 259 (App. Div. 2016), discussed here (under the heading "Another Mount Laurel Case for the Supreme Court?"),...

In re Reglan Litigation: No Federal Preemption of State Law Claim That Generic Drug Carried Inadequate Warning

In re Reglan Litigation, 226 N.J. 315 (2016). Plaintiffs in this mass tort matter claimed that defendants, who are generic manufacturers of metoclopramide, the generic version of the drug Reglan,...

The Supreme Court's Busy August

In the last ten days, the Supreme Court, nearing the end of its term, has issued a number of opinions. It has been hard to keep up with them all....

Standing and Mootness in a Ten Commandments Monument Case

Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. New Kensington Arnold School District, 832 F.3d 469 (3d Cir. 2016). Federal standing law sometimes involves nuances inquiries comparable to the famous question of...

Supreme Court Will Review PERC, Foreclosure, and Statute of Limitations Cases

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in three civil cases (not to mention several more criminal cases, which will not in fact be mentioned here). The first...

Amendments to the New Jersey Appellate Rules of Court, to be Effective on September 1, 2016

Today, the Supreme Court published an order dated August 1, 2016, which announced amendments to various court rules, all of which will take effect on September 1, 2016. That announcement...

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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....