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

Back for an Encore: Judges Paganelli and Puglisi Are Again Temporarily Assigned to the Appellate Division

As discussed here, Judges Paganelli and Puglisi were temporarily assigned to the Appellate Division from November 14, 2022- January 8, 2023. That assignment, from shortly before Thanksgiving until shortly after...

"Summer in the City" (and the Rest of New Jersey): Appellate Division Summer Parts

Soon it will be "Summer in the City," and elsewhere. In an Order published today, Chief Justice Rabner announced the lineup and dates for summer Parts of the Appellate Division....

Two Class Action Decisions by the Appellate Division

Kennedy v. Weichert Co., 474 N.J. Super. 541 (App. Div. 2023). As Judge Messano's opinion in this putative class action case recounted, this matter involves whether commissioned real estate salespeople...

Judge Greenaway Will Retire From the Third Circuit on June 15

Judge Greenaway announced that he will retire on June 15. The judge, age 65, had been appointed to the District of New Jersey bench in 1996 by President Clinton and...

Two Opinions Today That Emphasize the Need for "Balancing the Interests"

The "balancing of interests" often finds its way into judicial opinions. That is especially so in difficult cases. Two opinions issued today, one by the Supreme Court and one by...

Amendments to Third Circuit Internal Operating Procedures

As detailed here, the Third Circuit announced amendments to its Internal Operating Procedures. The amendments involve IOPs 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, and 2.5, which deal with panel or en banc determinations...

Two Supreme Court Opinions in Criminal Cases

State v. Canfield, 252 N.J. 497 (2023). Today, the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed, in large part, the 137-page opinion of the Appellate Division in this case, which was summarized here....

A New Year, a New Look, and the First Appellate Division Decision of 2023

After a nearly month-long hiatus, including time to iron out kinks in the long-overdue new look for this blog, this is the first post of 2023. Happy new year to...

The Third Circuit Will Sit in Newark on December 6

Though most Third Circuit oral arguments (of which there are relatively few, as discussed here) occur in Philadelphia, panels of that court sometimes sit in Newark. On December 6, a...

Trial Judges Have Discretion in What Order to Address Suppression Motions in the Family Part or Waivers to the Criminal Part in Criminal Cases Involving Juveniles Sought to be Tried as Adults

State ex rel. E.S., 252 N.J. 331 (2022). As discussed here, last year the Appellate Division addressed the "unsettled" question of which should come first in a criminal case involving a...

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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....