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

Another Big Win for the Hoboken Rent Board

Heyert v. Taddese, 431 N.J. Super. 388 (App. Div. 2013). [Disclosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, represented the Hoboken Rent Leveling & Stabilization Board in this appeal and in the other...

District Court Can Raise Statute of Limitations Problem Sua Sponte at Initial Conference

Lassiter v. City of Philadelphia, 716 F.3d 53 (3d Cir. 2013). The initial conference under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16 is a time for the court to set a proper course...

The Prerogative Writ of Mandamus

Mullen v. The Ippolito Corporation, 428 N.J. Super. 85 (App. Div. 2012). An action in lieu of prerogative writs can be used where, at common law, one of the designated...

The Printing Mart Decision

The end of August is usually a relatively sleepy period in terms of Supreme Court decisions. On this date in 1989, however, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Printing...

Cornett v. Johnson & Johnson: A Fact-Specific Decision on Statute of Limitations, But Largely an Affirmance of the Ruling Below That Some of Plaintiffs' Claims are Not Pre-Empted

Cornett v. Johnson & Johnson, 211 N.J. 362 (2012). This is a long-awaited decision in the tort/medical device realm, involving as it does the issues of choice of law for statute...

Laches Cannot Bar a Claim That is Filed Within the Applicable Statute of Limitations

Fox v. Millman, 210 N.J. 401 (2012). This case is one of many cut from a similar pattern: an employee subject to a duty of loyalty to his employer left that job for a new...

Choice of Applicable Statutes of Limitation Under the Restatement (Second) of Conflicts of Law

Pitcock v. Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, LLP, 426 N.J. Super. 582 (App. Div. 2012). This case arose out of a dispute between defendant, a New York law firm with a Newark...

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...

The Effect of the Product Liability Act's Presumption of Labeling Adequacy on the Statute of Limitations in Products Cases

Kendall v. Hoffman-LaRoche, Inc.., 209 N.J. 173 (2012). In this case, the 5-1 majority opinion by Justice Long offers a comprehensive tutorial about New Jersey's "discovery rule," which mitigates the strict statute...

A Unique Experience Before the Supreme Court of New Jersey

Today, I had the pleasure of arguing an important case involving choice of law, statute of limitations, and federal preemption issues before the Court. But only one Justice, Justice Lavecchia,...

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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....