NJ Appellate Law Blog

Municipal Planning and Zoning Boards Lack Power Over State University Development Proposals

Montclair State University v. County of Passaic, 451 N.J. Super. 523 (App. Div. 2017). The Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., places responsibility for development applications within a...

Pharmaceutical Patent Antitrust Class Action Complaints Stated Plausible Claims for Relief, so the Third Circuit Reverses the Dismissal of Those Cases

In re Lipitor Antitrust Litig., 868 F.3d 231 (3d Cir. 2017). It is evident that an appeal is a big one when, as here, the caption and counsel list consume...

Plaintiff is Over the Moon, as the Third Circuit Applies New Jersey's Arbitration Cases to Defeat Defendant's Demand for Arbitration

Moon v. Breathless, Inc., 868 F.3d 209 (3d Cir. 2017). At least since 2014, when the Supreme Court of New Jersey decided Atalese v. U.S. Legal Servs. Grp., L.P., 219...

The Supreme Court Abandons Baures v. Lewis in Family Law Child Relocation Cases

Bisbing v. Bisbing, 230 N.J. 309 (2017). Justice Patterson began her opinion in this case, for a unanimous Court, as follows. "This appeal arises from a trial court's post-judgment determination...

Two Opinions in Two Days by Justice Solomon

In re Atlantic County, 230 N.J. 237 (2017); In re New Jersey Firemens Association Obligation to Provide Relief Application Under Open Public Records Act, 230 N.J. 258 (2017). On Wednesday...

Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program is Meant to Produce Enforceable Settlements, and the Supreme Court Enforces Such a Settlement

GMAC Mortgage, LLC v. Willoughby, 230 N.J. 172 (2017). In 2008, recognizing the effects of the financial crisis on New Jersey homeowners, our Supreme Court established the Residential Mortgage Foreclosure...

The Appellate Division Addresses the Noerr-Pennington Doctrine

Main Street at Woolwich, LLC v. Ammons Supermarket, Inc., 415 N.J. Super. 135 (App. Div. 2017). The Noerr-Pennington doctrine, which originated in two cases from the Supreme Court of the...

Defendant Who Fails to Timely Serve Notice of Tort Claim Cannot Sue Public Entity for Contribution or Common Law Indemnification

Jones v. Morey's Pier, Inc., 230 N.J. 142 (2017). Under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 59:8-8, a tort plaintiff who fails to timely serve a notice of tort...

Accutane Plaintiffs Overcome the "Super-Presumption" That FDA-Approved Warnings About Drugs are Adequate

In re Accutane Litig., 2017 WL 3138003 (App. Div. July 25, 2017). [Disclosure: I argued for the successful plaintiffs in one of these two consolidated appeals, the one that involved...

Appellate Court's View That Merits of a Case Are Weak Does Not Justify Abandoning Deferential Standard of Review of Trial Level Discovery Rulings

Capital Health System, Inc. v. Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc., 230 N.J. 73 (2017). These two consolidated cases involved rulings on discovery disputes, a subject that rarely reaches the Supreme Court....

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Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: What Effect Does the Federal Ending Forced Arbitration Act Have in a Hostile Work Environment Case?

Tomorrow, September 16, judges on Part B of the Appellate Division will hear oral argument in Cintron v. Brink's, Incorporated. That is a hostile work environment case brought under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 et seq....

Two Criminal Appeals and Two Eminent Domain Cases for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in four new cases. Two of them are criminal matters. The other two involve eminent domain issues. One of the criminal appeals is before the Court on leave to appeal, the second grant of leave to appeal in the current Term. The Court granted certification in the other three matters....

Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: Can the Borough of Caldwell Recoup Payment for Professional Services That it Previously Made?

Tomorrow, September 11, a panel of judges on the Appellate Division's Part B will hear oral argument in Borough of Caldwell v. Cozzarelli-Cirminiello Architects, LLC. The case is before the Appellate Division following the grant of defendant's motion for leave to appeal the denial of its motion to dismiss the Complaint....

The First Published Appellate Division Opinion of the 2025-26 Term

Alcantara v. Moro, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). Judge Smith authored this opinion for the Appellate Division, that court's first published opinion of the new Term. The appeal was from a final decision of the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education that the School Funding Reform Act, N.J.S.A. 8A:7F-43 et seq. ("SFRA"), was constitutional as applied to the Township of Lakewood....