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

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...

In Wrongful Death Cases, No Expert Testimony is Needed to Establish the Value of the Services of a Loved One

Dutton v. Rando, 458 N.J. Super. 213 (App. Div. 2019). In Lesniak v. County of Bergen, 117 N.J. 12 (1989), the Supreme Court stated that expert testimony is not required...

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")...

Volunteer Firefighter Injured in the Line of Duty Need Not Have Other Employment in Order to Receive Disability Payments

Kocanowski v. Bridgewater Tp., 237 N.J. 3 (2019). As discussed here, the Appellate Division in this case held that in order for a volunteer firefighter to receive temporary disability payments...

After a Lull, The Supreme Court Grants Review in Six Cases

It had been nearly one month, since January 18, 2019, since the Supreme Court last added cases to its docket. However, the Court has now announced grants of certification in...

The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority Cannot Condemn Land for Potential Use in the Indefinite Future

Casino Reinvestment Development Authority v. Birnbaum, 458 N.J. Super. 173 (App. Div. 2019). On January 7, 2019, the Appellate Division decided Borough of Glassboro v. Grossman, 457 N.J. Super. 416...

The Two-Court Rule

In reading an unpublished Appellate Division decision recently, I learned about the "two-court rule." That rule, which dates back at least as far as a 1949 Supreme Court of the...

The Appellate Division Confesses Error

State v. Berisha, 458 N.J. Super. 105 (App. Div. 2019). None of us likes to admit our mistakes. That includes judges, of course, though judges sometimes do change their minds,...

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...

Converting a Non-Precedential Appellate Opinion Into a Precedential One

In both the Appellate Division and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, most opinions issued are not precedential. Sometimes, however, parties wish to have a not precedential opinion changed to...

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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....