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

"Time of Application" Rule for Development Kicks in When All Documents Required by Ordinance Are Submitted

Dunbar Homes, Inc. v. Franklin Tp. Bd. of Adj., 233 N.J. 546 (2018). In a development application under the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. ("MLUL"), the law...

The Supreme Court Will Re-Visit Health Club Waivers of Liability

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in Pulice v. Greenbrook Sports & Fitness, LLC. The question presented in that appeal, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's...

The Last Few Weeks, Part 2

Last week, the Supreme Court announced that it had granted certification in five more cases. Three of them are criminal appeals, one involves additur after a jury verdict, and one...

Which Appellate Deadlines Are Jurisdictional?

Hamer v. Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, 138 S.Ct. 13 (2017). In Bowles v. Russell, 551 U.S. 205 (2007), the Supreme Court of the United States explained that an appeal...

The Third Circuit Grants Mandamus, and Announces a New Test for Transfer in Unusual Circumstances

In re Howmedica Osteonics Corp., 867 F.3d 390 (3d Cir. 2017). Today's opinion by Judge Krause contains a little bit of a lot of things: in no particular order, waiver,...

Terms of Use Not to Disclosed to Consumers, on a Website That They Never Visited, Do Not Require Them to Take Grievances to Arbitration

James v. Global Tellink Corp., 852 F.3d 262 (3d Cir. 2017). In this putative class action, plaintiffs were inmates at New Jersey correctional facilities. They signed up with defendants for...

Sovereign Immunity Defeats Contribution Claims Against the State for Pre-Spill Act Discharges

NL Industries, Inc. v. State, 228 N.J. 280 (2017). In 1976, the Legislature passed the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11 to -23.24 ("the Spill Act"). The...

Jury Waiver and Fee Award to Defendant in CEPA Case Are Overturned

Noren v. Heartland Payment Systems, Inc., 448 N.J. Super. 486 (App. Div. 2017). In Abbamont v. Piscataway Tp. Bd. of Educ., 238 N.J. Super. 603 (App. Div. 1990), aff'd, 138...

Sovereign Immunity Prevails, But the State Police Still Lose

Royster v. New Jersey State Police, 227 N.J. 482 (2017). Today's decision is a unique one. Writing for the majority of five Justices (Justices LaVecchia, Patterson, Fernandez-Vina, Solomon, and Timpone),...

No Waiver of Arbitration Clause Even After Years of Litigation, Because Arbitration Demand, Pre-AT&T v. Concepcion, Would Have Been Futile

Chassen v. Fidelity Nat'l Financial, Inc., 836 F.3d 291 (3d Cir. 2016). [Disclosure: I was an expert witness for plaintiffs in this case, but my Declaration and deposition testimony was...

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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....