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

Two New Temporary Assignments of Judges to the Appellate Division

Chief Justice Rabner issued Orders, effective yesterday, temporarily assigning two trial level judges to the Appellate Division. Judge James Paganelli, who sits in the Essex County Chancery Division, General Equity,...

Judge Fisher Returns to the Appellate Division, and Judge Sumners is Named Acting Deputy Presiding Judge for Administration

With the swearing in of newly-confirmed Justices Fasciale and Wainer Apter, there are now six Justices on the Supreme Court. One seat, left vacant when Justice Albin retired this summer,...

The Twelfth Anniversary of New Jersey Appellate Law Blog

Yesterday, while I was out of action, was the twelfth anniversary of this New Jersey Appellate Law blog. My thanks to the many judges, lawyers, students, and interested laypeople who...

At Last! An Agreement is Reached for Governor Murphy to Re-Nominate Rachel Wainer Apter and Nominate Judge Fasciale for Supreme Court Seats

After much delay, an agreement has been reached under which Governor Murphy will re-nominate Rachel Wainer Apter, whom he nominated to fill a Supreme Court seat nearly eighteen months ago,...

Three Appellate Division Judges Are Temporarily Assigned to Sit on the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has been functioning for months with four Justices, plus Judge Fuentes on temporary assignment. Judge Fuentes is due to retire on September 1. At that time, the...

The 2022-2023 General Assignment Order, With Some Shakeups in the Appellate Courts

Today, Chief Justice Rabner issued the 2022-2023 General Assignment Order. From an appellate perspective, the headline news is that Judges Fisher, Sabatino, and Fasciale have been temporarily assigned to the...

The Appellate Division Will Sit in Freehold on August 16

Most Appellate Division oral arguments occur in a few locations, such as Trenton, Newark, Morristown, and Hackensack (though that is not an exhaustive list). Occasionally, however, the Appellate Division sits...

A Class Certification Opinion by Judge Porter, With a Concurring Opinion by … Judge Porter

Allen v. Ollie's Bargain Store, Inc., 37 F.4th 890 (3d Cir. 2022). This blog has reported on several Third Circuit cases in which a unanimous panel opinion was accompanied by...

Another Temporary Assignment to the Appellate Division for Three Judges

Chief Justice Rabner announced that Judges Berdote Byrne, Bishop-Thompson, and Marczyk have each been temporarily assigned to the Appellate Division, effective August 1, 2022. There is no end date for...

When, if at All, Can a Rule 4:19 Examination be Recorded, and When, if Ever, Can a Third Party be Present During an Examination?

DiFiore v. Pezic, 472 N.J. Super. 100 (App. Div. 2022). This opinion by Judge Sabatino exhaustively explored, in three consolidated cases, the issue of "when, if ever, a plaintiff with...

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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....