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

Reversing the Appellate Division, the Supreme Court Adopts the "Ongoing Storm Rule"

Pareja v. Princeton International Properties, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). This 5-2 decision addressed the "ongoing storm rule," which Justice Fernandez-Vina's majority opinion defined as a doctrine "under which a landowner...

Adverse Employment Action Not Required for Law Against Discrimination Claim

Richter v. Oakland Bd. of Educ., ___ N.J. ___ (2021). Justice LaVecchia wrote the opinion in this important Law Against Discrimination ("LAD") case for a unanimous Court. There were two...

Ancillary Settlement Jurisdiction

Butt v. United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2021). This opinion by Judge Hardiman involved an attorneys' fee dispute. In the underlying consolidated...

Another Permutation of "Legal Duty and Tort Liability in a Drunk Driving Context"

Diaz v. Reynoso, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Near the beginning of his opinion for the Appellate Division today, Judge Sabatino succinctly stated the issue in this case:...

New Cases for the Supreme Court Involving the Tort Claims Act, Palimony and the Statute of Frauds, the "Three Strikes Law," and the "Ministerial Exception" of the First Amendment

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in four new cases. One of those appeals is from a published opinion of the Appellate Division. The others involve unpublished...

Apparent Authority Must be Manifested by a Communication of the Principal, Not of the Agent

Gayles v. Sky Zone Trampoline Park, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Here is how Judge Messano began his opinion for the Appellate Division today: "Joan Tongol invited several...

Pre-Marital Agreements, Mid-Marital Agreements, Property Settlement Agreements, and (Today's Case) Agreements in the Nature of a Mid-Marital Agreement

Steele v. McDonnell Steele, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Judge Enright's decision for the Appellate Division in this case today involved an appeal of the Family Part's enforcement...

A Defamation Law Anniversary

On this date in 1982, the Supreme Court decided Kotlikoff v. Community News, 89 N.J. 62 (1982). Justice Clifford's opinion for a unanimous Court stated that the case "addresses an...

Provision of Car Dealer's Insurance Policy That Did Not Cover Loaner Car Driver Because She Had Her Own Minimum Required Insurance Was an Illegal Escape Clause

Huggins v. Aquilar, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). Rarely does a dissenting opinion in one case form the basis for a majority opinion (in fact, a unanimous opinion) in a subsequent...

A "Miranda Warnings" Case and a "New Business Rule" Case for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in two new cases. One of them implicates the warnings required under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). The other...

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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....