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

Tolling of Time Due to This Week's Justice Complex Closures

Yesterday, October 1, and the day before, September 30, the Supreme Court Clerk's Office, the Appellate Division Clerk's Office, and other Clerk's Offices in the Hughes Justice Complex in Trenton...

Damages for Defamation, and a Statute of Limitations Issue

NuWave Investment Corp. v. Hyman Beck & Co., 221 N.J. 495 (2015). This short per curiam opinion, issued today, affirmed the ruling of the Appellate Division, which was reported at...

The Supreme Court Speaks About the Construction Statute of Repose

State v. Perini Corp., 221 N.J. 412 (2015). Three years ago, the Appellate Division issued an opinion that addressed whether the construction statute of repose, N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1.1a, runs from the...

The Anniversary of Lopez v. Swyer

On this date in 1973, the Supreme Court decided Lopez v. Swyer, 62 N.J. 267 (1973). That opinion, written by Justice Mountain for a unanimous Court, applied and extended the...

Spill Act Has No Statute of Limitations

Morristown Associates v. Grant Oil Co., 220 N.J. 360 (2015). The New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act, konwn as the "Spill Act," allows parties who clean up contamination to seek...

The Rent Control Trilogy

On this date thirty-nine years ago, the Supreme Court decided three seminal rent conrol cases, which have come to be known as the "rent control trilogy." Troy Hills Village v....

The "Continuing Tort" Doctrine

Wreden v. Township of Lafayette, 436 N.J. Super. 117 (App. Div. 2014). As Judge Haas described it in this opinion, the "continuing tort doctrine, also known as the ‘continuing violation...

Ratification of Originally Unauthorized Lawsuit by a Condominium Association

Port Liberte II Condominium Ass'n, Inc. v. New Liberty Residential Urban Renewal Co., LLC, 435 N.J. Super. 51 (App. Div. 2014). The caption in this case, a construction defect action...

The Limitations of Mandamus

Caporusso v. New Jersey Dep't of Health & Senior Services, 434 N.J. Super. 88 (App. Div. 2014). The prerogative writ of mandamus is the centerpiece of this opinion by Judge...

Statute of Repose Does Not Save Claims Barred by Statute of Limitations

Cumberland Cty. Bd. of Freeholders v. Vitetta Group, P.C., 431 N.J. Super. 596 (App. Div. 2013). Most cases involving the construction statute of repose, N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1.1, involve how to determine when the...

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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....