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

No Regulatory or Common Law Duty for Landlord to Cover Radiator With Insulating Material in Order to Avoid Injury to Tenant

J.H. v. R&M Tagliereni, LLC, 239 N.J. 198 (2019). [There was the potential of a guest post regarding this case, but that did not pan out. That's the reason for...

"Affirmed by an Equally Divided Court"

L.R. v. Camden City Public School Dist., 238 N.J. 547 (2019). A relative rarity for our Supreme Court occurred in this case today: the decision of the Appellate Division was...

This Kind of "STOLI" is Against New Jersey's Public Policy

Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 238 N.J. 157 (2019). This appeal came to the Supreme Court via questions certified by the Third Circuit Court...

" … And the Livin' is Eas[ier]": Appellate Division Summer Parts for 2019

The summer schedule for the Appellate Division was announced late yesterday. The Order of Chief Justice Rabner that contains the full schedule is available here. "Summer" (a term not actually...

Supreme Court Oral Argument Tips From Chief Justice Rabner

Chief justice Rabner was the guest speaker at last night's NJSBA Appellate Practice Committee meeting. He was aware that Judge Vernoia spoke at a previous meeting about appellate briefing, as...

Drug Court and Expungements

In re Expungement of Arrest-Charge Records of T.B., 236 N.J. 262 (2019). Today, the Supreme Court issued its first opinion of 2019, a unanimous ruling by Chief Justice Rabner. The...

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"...

A Big (In Every Way) Decision Under the New Jersey Constitution's Legislative Review Clause

Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO v. New Jersey Civil Service Commission, 234 N.J. 483 (2018). In one of the biggest constitutional decisions of the current term, an unusually divided Supreme...

Some Holders of Tax Sale Certificates May Have Standing to Challenge Development Approvals on Neighboring Property

Cherokee LCP Land, LLC v. Linden Planning Bd., 234 N.J. 403 (2018). The Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. ("MLUL") confers standing to actions of municipal land use...

OPRA Requires Disclosure of the Names of Successful Bidders at Public Auctions of Government Property

Brennan v. Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, 233 N.J. 330 (2018). This opinion by Chief Justice Rabner, for a unanimous Supreme Court, addressed an issue that arose under the Open Public...

1 2 3 4 5 678 9 10…Last

"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....