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

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,...

The First Two Supreme Court Grants of Review of the New Term

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two cases. These are the first grants (Nos. A-1 and A-2) of the current Term. The first appeal is Garden...

"Deemed Adopted" Administrative Law Judge Disciplinary Decision Gets the Same Deference on Appeal as Agency's Imposition of Discipline or Trial Court's Sentencing Decision

In re Hendrickson, 235 N.J. 145 (2018). This first Supreme Court opinion of the current Term is by Justice Albin. The opening paragraphs of his ruling concisely and completely describe...

Software Relied on by Appraisal Experts in Tax Appeals Must be Shown to be Reliable

Palisadium Managemen Corp. v. Borough of Cliffside Park, 456 N.J. Super. 293 (App. Div. 2018). This opinion by Judge Accurso involved an appeal from decisions of the Tax Court that...

Unlike Municipal License Fees for Landlords, Municipal Fees to Defray Costs of Inspecting Apartment Units Are Authorized

Cona v. Township of Washington, 456 N.J. Super. 197 (App. Div. 2018). In Timber Glen Phase III, LLC v. Hamilton Tp., 441 N.J. Super. 514 (App. Div. 2015), the Appellate...

As Summer Nears Its End, the Third Circuit Cranks Out Opinions

This time of the year there are slim pickings in terms of published opinions of the Supreme Court of New Jersey or the Appellate Division. Even unpublished Appellate Division opinions...

The Business Judgment Rule and Planned Residential Communities

Alloco v. Ocean Beach and Bay Club, 456 N.J. Super. 124 (App. Div. 2018). This opinion by Judge Leone focuses on the business judgment rule and its applicability in the...

Back in Action!

Due to travel over most of the past two weeks (and getting "back in the game" once having returned), there have been no posts here. But the courts have been...

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...

State University Development Proposals: A Tweak to Rutgers v. Piluso

Montclair State University v. County of Passaic, 234 N.J. 434 (2018). This case centered on the proper application of Rutgers v. Piluso, 60 N.J. 142 (1972). As discussed here, in...

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Four Criminal Law Cases, and a Qui Tam Appeal, for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted review in five new appeals. One of them is before the Court on leave to appeal, while in the others the Court granted certification....

Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: Where a Party Files a Suit Alleged to Violate the UPEPA But Quickly Dismisses It, Can Defendants Then Get Counsel Fees Under the Statute?

On May 15, judges on Part C of the Appellate Division will hear oral argument in Satz v. Keshet Starr. Plaintiff, acting pro se, filed a defamation suit against defendants. Defendants filed an o order to show cause to dismiss the case and for attorneys' fees under the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-49 et seq. ("UPEPA"). The UPEPA, enacted in 2023, sought to make it more difficult to use the legal system as a weapon to bully individuals into silence by filing what have been known as SLAPP ("strategic lawsuits against public participation") suits....

The "Limited Attorney Exemption" of the Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act is Held Unconstitutional as Violative of the Separation of Powers and Void for Vagueness

Anchor Law Firm, PLLC v. State of New Jersey, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). The Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act, N.J.S.A. 17:16G-1 et seq. ("DACCA"), prohibits debt adjusters in New Jersey from operating for a profit. There is an exception for attorneys not "principally engaged" (a term not defined in the statute) in debt adjustment. That exception, adopted in a 1986 amendment, replaced a prior version of the DACCA that had exempted all attorneys from its scope....

"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....