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

Expungement of Less Serious Criminal Convictions

In re Kollman, Jr., Petition for Expungement, 210 N.J. 557 (2012). "To afford a second chance to one-time offenders convicted of less serious offenses, who have led law-abiding lives since conviction, the...

The Appellate Division Limits DEP's Powers

Des Champs Laboratories, Inc. v. Martin, 427 N.J. Super. 84 (App. Div. 2012). This opinion by Judge Sabatino, for a unanimous Appellate Division panel, may lead to one of the most important Supreme Court decisions in years in the...

A Class Action Settlement Class is Reversed for Lack of Adequate Representation, But the Third Circuit Explains How to Cure the Problem

Dewey v. Volkswagen, A.G., 681 F.3d 170 (3d Cir. 2012). This class action case involved allegations that Volkswagen vehicles had defective sunroofs that allowed water to infiltrate into the interior of the...

A Perplexing Exercise in Interpreting an Administrative Regulation

US Bank, N.A. v. Hough, 210 N.J. 187 (2012). There seems to be infinite room for judges, or Justices, to disagree about how to interpret statutes or regulations. Sometimes, there are differences even...

Work Product Doctrine and Common Interest Privilege Exempt Documents From Disclosure Under OPRA or Common Law Right of Access

O'Boyle v. Borough of Longport, 426 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2012). This is yet another Open Public Records Act ("OPRA") case. Plaintiff was a frequent antagonist of the defendant Borough, hostility...

Attorney Charging Lien Subordinated to Interest of Preserving Funds for Children's Education

Sauro v. Sauro, 425 N.J. Super. 555 (App. Div. 2012). This contentious divorce action boiled down to the complaint of a large law firm that an equitable distribution award was improper because, in making...

Cap on Sick Leave Payments to School Administrators Upheld

New Jersey Ass'n of School Adminstrators v. Schundler, 211 N.J. 535 (2012). This case required the Supreme Court to parse and reconcile an unusually complex scheme of statutes and regulations that dealt...

An Important Decision Under the Evidence Rules

Konop v. Rosen, 425 N.J. Super. 391 (App. Div. 2012). Trial lawyers and appellate lawyers take heed! The Appellate Division, speaking through an encyclopedic opinion by Judge Messano, has issued one of...

Relation Back and Other Statute of Limitations Issues

Walker v. Choudhary, 425 N.J. Super. 135 (App. Div. 2012). This was a medical malpractice and wrongful death action. Three defendants, a doctor, a medical group, and a company that owns a...

"Justifiable Reliance" for Purposes of a Fraud Claim

Walid v. Yolanda for Irene Couture, Inc.., 425 N.J. Super. 171 (App. Div. 2012). It is elemental that "justifiable reliance" on an allegedly fraudulent mispresentation is necessary to make out a fraud...

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The Last Seven Days

The last seven days, an especially busy period for me, featured one Supreme Court opinion and two published Appellate Division decisions. Here are summaries of those rulings:...

No Ethics Violation in Attorney Purchasing Another Attorney's Name as a Keyword for Internet Searches, the Supreme Court Says, With a Caveat

In re Opinion No. 735 of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). [Disclosure: I represented an amicus curiae in this appeal]. As Justice Noriega said in his opinion for a 5-1 majority (Justice Pierre-Louis did not participate), this appeal "presents the narrow question of whether it is permissible under the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) for an attorney or law firm to purchase a competing attorney's or law firm's name as a keyword." The Court found it permissible, with a caveat. Justice Fasciale dissented....

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....

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....