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

A Very Important Ruling About Late Notices of Tort Claim

D.D. v. University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, 213 N.J. 130 (2013). Under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 59:8-1 et seq. ("TCA"), no lawsuit can be filed against...

New Jersey Law Firms May Now Use Some Trade Names

In re Letter Decision of the Committee on Attorney Advertising, Docket No. 47-2007, 213 N.J. 171 (2013). New Jersey Rule of Professional Conduct 7.5 requires that a law firm's name "include the...

If Your Client Switches Attorneys, It'll be Hard to Sue the New Lawyer for Tortious Interference

Nostrame v. Santiago, 213 N.J. 109 (2013). When a personal injury plaintiff in a potentially big case switches attorneys, the attorney being replaced may see a potentially large fee disappearing. It is...

Municipal Judge Cannot Hear Cases Involving Same Municipality's Police Department That Employs His Son

In re Advisory Letter No. 7-11, 213 N.J. 63 (2013). This was an appeal from the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Extrajudicial Activities. George M. Boyd is the Chief Judge of the...

Editorial: It's Time to Take Up Governor Christie's Supreme Court Nominations

On December 10, 2012, Governor Christie nominated Robert Hanna, currently the Director of the Board of Public Utilties, and Judge David Bauman of the Superior Court of Monmouth County, to...

Six Years Since L.W. v. Toms River Regional Bd. of Educ.

On this date in 2007, the Supreme Court of New Jersey decided L.W. v. Toms River Regional Bd. of Educ., 189 N.J. 381 (2007). That case held that the broad language...

Supreme Court Will Review In re Ehrlich's Estate

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification to review the decision of the Appellate Division in In re Estate of Richard Ehrlich, 427 N.J. Super. 64 (App. Div....

A Court Cannot Find "Abuse" or "Neglect" of Child Where Mother Used Drugs During Pregnancy But No Harm Resulted to the Child

Division of Youth & Family Servs. v. A.L., 213 N.J. 1 (2013). When A.L. was admitted to the hospital to give birth to her son, A.D., she tested positive for cocaine. The...

The Right to Amend, and Relation Back

Prime Accounting Dep't v. Carney's Point Tp., 212 N.J. 403 (2013). This tax appeal case came about because the defendant municipality's tax assessment list showed plaintiff as the owner of the subject...

Webcasts of Supreme Court of New Jersey Oral Arguments

On this date in 2005, the Supreme Court of New Jersey began to provide live webcasts of its oral arguments. The very first case argued, NCP Litigation Trust v. KPMG...

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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....