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

A Reminder From the Appellate Division About Confidential Information

A Notice to the Bar, dated September 1, 2021, was published late yesterday. It is available here. Issued by Judge Messano, the Notice is titled "APPELLATE DIVISION REMINDER TO COUNSEL...

For the First Week of the New Term, Appellate Division Panels Adopt Varying Practices for Oral Argument

The Appellate Division's calendar for the week of September 13, the first week of the new court Term, has been published and is available here. While it may be too...

The 2021-22 General Assignment Order

Chief Justice Rabner has issued the General Assignment Order for the coming Term. It is available here. At the Appellate Division level, the headline is that the number of Parts...

At Least for a Day, The Supreme Court is Back in Person

Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in State v. Dangcil, a case in which, as discussed here, the Court granted direct certification from the Law Division and accelerated the...

The Georgia Supreme Court Will Resume In-Person Oral Arguments. Will New Jersey's Supreme Court Do the Same in the Fall?

The Supreme Court of Georgia announced yesterday that it will resume in-person oral arguments on June 9. The press release regarding this described how things will work: "Public health protocols...

"Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer"- Appellate Division Summer Parts

The Appellate Division's schedule of summer Parts has been published. It is available here. This year, the "summer" period runs from June 21 through September 12, divided into six two-week...

The Third Circuit Issues a New Procedure Regarding Highly Sensitive Documents

Chief Judge Smith issued a Standing Order Regarding Highly Sensitive Documents. It is available here. The Standing Order creates new procedures for materials defined therein as "Highly Sensitive Documents" ("HSD")....

Revised Children in Court Standards are Issued, But Without Change to Appeal-Related Items

The Supreme Court announced Directive # 03-21, available here. That Directive supersedes Directive # 18-17. The new Directive "promulgates a revised set of Children in Court (CIC) standards as approved...

2018-19 Appellate Statistics From the Administrative Office of the Courts

The Administrative Office of the Courts has issued its 2018-19 Annual Report of the New Jersey Courts, which is available here. The following statistics for the Supreme Court and Appellate...

The 2020-21 General Assignment Order

Chief Justice Rabner has issued the General Assignment Order for 2020-21, which is available here. Judge Ostrer has replaced Judge Koblitz, who will be retiring, as Presiding Judge of Part...

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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....