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

The Supreme Court Answers Certified Questions About the Ticket Resale Law

Finkleman v. National Football League, 236 N.J. 280 (2019). This opinion by Justice Patterson today answers certified questions posed by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals arising out of a...

Pendent Appellate Jurisdiction

Reinig v. RBS Citizens, N.A., 912 F.3d 115 (3d Cir. 2018). This was the final published opinion of 2018 for the Third Circuit. Authored by Judge Vanaskie, the opinion reverses...

The 1,500th Post- Making up a December Deficit

A major Appellate Division argument, appellate briefing, and other work has interfered with keeping up with the courts during December. So it's time for one of this blog's periodic "catch-up"...

Five New Cases for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it has granted certification in five more cases. Those matters run the gamut from criminal cases to tort cases to a long-running consumer...

The Supreme Court Will Address "Not Raised Below," and Three Criminal Appeals

The Supreme Court has announced that it has granted certification in three cases, all criminal matters, and that a civil case will be before it on an appeal as of...

A Class Action About Towing Charges, and a Mesothelioma Case About Apportionment, Will be Before the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted leave to appeal in one case and certification in another. Both cases doubtless will be closely watched. The Court granted leave to...

Tax Sale Certificate Antitrust Class Action Litigation Settlement is Affirmed, and Decision Permitting Appeal Bond to Include Administrative Expenses is Upheld

In re New Jersey Tax Sales Certificates Antitrust Litigation, 750 Fed. Appx. 73 (3d Cir. Sept. 6, 2018). [Disclosure: I am among the plaintiffs' leadership team in this matter]. In...

SLUSA Does Not Bar Investors' Claims That Broker Overcharged Them to Execute Securities Transactions

Taksir v. The Vanguard Group, 903 F.3d 95 (3d Cir. 2018). As relevant to this appeal, the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998, 15 U.S.C. §78bb ("SLUSA"), states that...

Michael E. Patunas (1967-2018)

This is a very difficult post to write. Michael E. Patunas was my colleague at Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC for more than fifteen years. He was my partner for a...

Unlike Municipal License Fees for Landlords, Municipal Fees to Defray Costs of Inspecting Apartment Units Are Authorized

Cona v. Township of Washington, 456 N.J. Super. 197 (App. Div. 2018). In Timber Glen Phase III, LLC v. Hamilton Tp., 441 N.J. Super. 514 (App. Div. 2015), the Appellate...

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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....