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

Municipal Collective Bargaining Agreement as to Health Insurance Premium Contribution Rates is Overridden by State Statute

In re Ridgefield Park Bd. of Educ., 244 N.J. 1 (2020). The question in this case was whether health insurance premium contribution rates for members of the Ridgefield Park Education...

Making Up Ground

Due to a personal matter, there have been no posts on this blog since June 2. This post will summarize some of the decisions from our appellate courts since that...

A Due Process Travesty in a Workers Compensation Case

McGory v. SLS Landscaping, 463 N.J. Super. 463 (App. Div. 2020). Judge Vernoia pulled no punches in this opinion for the Appellate Division today. Writing for a unanimous panel, Judge...

Back in Action

The appellate courts have not been idle since the most recent post on this blog. Opinions have been issued, the Supreme Court has taken up more cases for review, and...

State Medicaid-Related Regulation Voided by the Appellate Division as Inconsistent With State Statute

G.C. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, 463 N.J. Super. 79 (App. Div. 2020). Appellate review of an administrative agency regulation "begins with a presumption that the [Regulation...

The Lodzinski Murder Case and Three Other Appeals Reach the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in four more cases. One of those matters, State v. Lodzinski, a murder case, has received substantial publicity during its lengthy...

Two Employment-Related Cases for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it will review two more cases. One of them is before the Court as of right, by virtue of a dissent in the Appellate Division....

A Charter School Case and Two Criminal Cases (One Involving the Movie "The Shining") Reach the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in three more cases. How can the case involving "The Shining" not be discussed first? That case is State v. Williams....

A Per Curiam Affirmance of an Appellate Division Statute of Limitations Decision

The Plastic Surgery Center, P.A. v. Malouf Chevrolet-Cadillac, Inc., 241 N.J. 112 (2020). As discussed here, the Appellate Division, in an opinion reported at 457 N.J. Super. 564 (App. Div....

Acoli v. New Jersey State Parole Bd., Decided by a Split Appellate Division Panel, Will Likely Return to the Supreme Court

Acoli v. New Jersey State Parole Bd., 462 N.J. Super. 39 (App. Div. 2019). As Judge Fasciale's majority opinion in this case today states, "[i]n 1973, Sundiata Acoli murdered State...

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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....