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

Thirteen Years Since Perez v. Rent-A-Center

On March 15, 2006, the Supreme Court decided Perez v. Rent-A-Center, 186 N.J. 188 (2006). By a 6-1 vote, with Justice Rivera-Soto issuing a partial dissent, the Court held in...

Damages to a Motor Vehicle From an Accident Can Include Damages for the "Stigma" of Being in an Accident Even Though the Vehicle in Question Was Repaired to Its Pre-Accident Condition

Financial Services Vehicle Trust v. Panter, 458 N.J. Super. 244 (App. Div. 2019). This appeal actually involved four consolidated cases, all of them originating in the Small Claims Part of...

Filing a Criminal Complaint as a Means of Collecting on an Invoice is an Unconscionable Commercial Practice That Warrants Attorneys' Fees Under the Consumer Fraud Act

Jacobs v. Lindsay and Son Plumbing and Heating, Inc., 458 N.J. Super. 194 (App. Div. 2019). The defendant in this appeal, Mark Lindsay and Son Plumbing & Heating, Inc. ("MLSP")...

A New Test for Defining "Merchandise" Under the Consumer Fraud Act

All the Way Towing, LLC v. Bucks County International, Inc., 236 N.J. 431 (2019). Plaintiffs (an individual and his company, treated as one plaintiff here) purchased a customized tow truck...

"Confusing," "Contradictory," and "Obscure" Provision of Consumer Contract Claimed to Mandate Arbitration is Held Not to Do So

Kernahan v. Home Warranty Administrator of Florida, Inc., 236 N.J. 301 (2019). When the Supreme Court grants review based on a particular issue raised by the petitioner, but the petitioner...

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...

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...

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...

The Litigation Privilege Applies to Statements, Not to Omissions in Notices of Intent to Foreclose

Wright v. Bank of America, N.A., 456 N.J. Super. 328 (App. Div. 2018). This short opinion by Judge Fisher reversed a decision of the Law Division that dismissed plaintiff's Complaint...

Another Consumer Arbitration Clause Case, and a Criminal Appeal, for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has granted certification in two new cases. The first is yet another matter involving whether and when consumer disputes can be forced into arbitration. That case (actually,...

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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....