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

Despite Girsh v. Jepson, A District Court Need Not Always Determine the Best Potential Recovery in Order to Approve a Class Action Settlement

Halley v. Honeywell International, Inc., 861 F.3d 481 (3d Cir. 2017). This was an environmental contamination class action involving lands in Jersey City, New Jersey. After "five years of extensive...

"Learned Professional" Exception to Consumer Fraud Act Exempts Providers of Ambulance Services

Atlantic Ambulance Corp. v. Cullum, 451 N.J. Super. 247 (App. Div. 2017). In her first published opinion for the Appellate Division since her elevation, Judge Mayer today addressed consolidated putative...

"Technology" is the Key Word at the Third Circuit Judicial Conference

In this electronic age, technology is everywhere. So it was perhaps inevitable, and welcome to most, that the common thread running through much of the Third Circuit Judicial Conference, which...

Terms of Use Not to Disclosed to Consumers, on a Website That They Never Visited, Do Not Require Them to Take Grievances to Arbitration

James v. Global Tellink Corp., 852 F.3d 262 (3d Cir. 2017). In this putative class action, plaintiffs were inmates at New Jersey correctional facilities. They signed up with defendants for...

Mass Action Plaintiffs Must be Careful in Pleading, or Their Case Will be Removable to Federal Court Under CAFA

Ramirez v. Vintage Pharmaceuticals, LLC, 852 F.3d 324 (3d Cir. 2017). The so-called Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 ("CAFA") extended federal jurisdiction not only to class actions over which...

Failure to Pay Arbitration Fees Breaches Agreement That Requires Arbitration

Roach v. BM Motoring, LLC, 228 N.J. 163 (2017). Plaintiffs bought used cars from defendants. In connection with those purchases, plaintiffs signed Dispute Resolution Agreements ("DRA's") that required any disputes...

Plaintiffs Have Standing to Sue for Data Breaches That Violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Even Without More "Concrete" Injury

In re Horizon Healthcare Services Inc. Data Breach Litig., 846 F.3d 625 (3d Cir. 2017). [Dislcosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, is co-lead counsel for the successful plaintiffs in...

Tax Credits for a Disabled Child vs. Tax Deductions for Such a Child

Polsky v. United States, 844 F.3d 170 (3d Cir. 2016). Plaintiffs are the parents of a permanently disabled daughter. They claimed a child tax credit on two years' federal tax...

A New Third Circuit Chief Judge

As of October 1, Judge Smith has succeeded Judge McKee as Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge McKee has been Chief Judge since 2010, succeeding Judge Scirica in...

No Waiver of Arbitration Clause Even After Years of Litigation, Because Arbitration Demand, Pre-AT&T v. Concepcion, Would Have Been Futile

Chassen v. Fidelity Nat'l Financial, Inc., 836 F.3d 291 (3d Cir. 2016). [Disclosure: I was an expert witness for plaintiffs in this case, but my Declaration and deposition testimony was...

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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....