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

Foreclosure Judgment Affirmed "In Spite of Certain Irregularities"

Capital One, N.A. v. Peck, 455 N.J. Super. 254 (App. Div. 2018). In the usual foreclosure case, the same entity owns both the note and the related mortgage. The facts...

Slightly Different Facts Produce Opposite Results in Two Somewhat Similar Cases

Bowser v. Board of Trustees, Police and Firemens Retirement System, 455 N.J. Super. 165 (App. Div. 2018); Mattia v. Board of Trustees, Police and Firemens Retirement System, 455 N.J. Super....

Ten Days Until Summer in the Appellate Division

According to the solar calendar, summer formally begins on June 21. But the Appellate Division begins its summer schedule on June 18, as reflected in the summer Part schedule published...

Entire Controversy Doctrine Inapplicable to Teacher Tenure Charge

Yarborough v. State Operated School District of the City of Newark, 455 N.J. Super. 136 (App. Div. 2018). Plaintiff, a third-grade teacher in the Newark public schools, faced a conduct-unbecoming...

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...

The Latest Supreme Court Grants of Review: A Tort Claims Act Notice Case, and the Effect of Zoning Board Conflict of Interests

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in two more cases. The first is O'Donnell v. New Jersey Turnpike Authority. The question presented in that appeal, as phrased...

Should Two Attorneys be Able to Split an Appellate Oral Argument?

The Supreme Court announced that it is seeking comments on a proposed amendment to Rule 2:11-1(b)(3). That rule, which deals with oral argument in the appellate courts, currently states that...

A Sidewalk Liability Case Involving a Vacant Church

Ellis v. Hilton United Methodist Church, 455 N.J. Super. 33 (App. Div. 2018). The opinion in this case, issued today, involved a slip and fall on a sidewalk that abutted...

Complaint as to Issuance of Bonds for Statehouse Renovation Was Moot, But Failed on the Merits Regardless

Wisniewski v. Murphy, 454 N.J. Super. 508 (App. Div. 2018). In 2017, the State Capitol Joint Management Commission ("JMC") resolved to renovate the Statehouse, the building that houses (among other...

The "Single Publication Rule" in the Internet Age, and the "Fair Report" Privilege

Petro-Lubricant Testing Laboratories, Inc. v. Adelman, 233 N.J. 236 (2018). This defamation case, which involves an internet article about an employment discrimination lawsuit that was thereafter reprinted in somewhat different...

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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....