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

The Anniversary of Cox v. Sears Roebuck

On this date in 1994, the Supreme Court decided Cox v. Sears Roebuck & Co., 138 N.J. 2 (1994). This unanimous opinion by Justice Clifford continues to be one of...

In re Reglan Litigation: No Federal Preemption of State Law Claim That Generic Drug Carried Inadequate Warning

In re Reglan Litigation, 226 N.J. 315 (2016). Plaintiffs in this mass tort matter claimed that defendants, who are generic manufacturers of metoclopramide, the generic version of the drug Reglan,...

The Discovery Rule is Applied to Common Law and Consumer Fraud Act Claims

Catena v. Raytheon Company, 447 N.J. Super. 43 (App. Div. 2016). The time when a cause of action accrues, for purposes of triggering the statute of limitations, is a recurring...

Supreme Court Grants Review of Two TCCWNA/CFA Class Certification Decisions

The Supreme Court has granted certification of class certification decisions in two cases under the Consumer Fraud Act, N.J.S.A. 56:8-1 et seq., and the Truth in Consumer Contract, Warranty, and...

Pleading Standards in Putative Class Actions in New Jersey State Courts

Baskin v. P.C. Richard & Son, LLC, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). [Disclosure: I am one of the counsel for the successful plaintiffs in this matter]. In this case, the Appellate...

The Third Circuit Applies Campbell-Ewald and Rejects an Attempt to Moot a Class Action by Buying Off the Named Plaintiff

Weitzner v. Sanofi Pasteur, Inc., 819 F.3d 61 (3d Cir. 2016). Earlier this year, in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, 136 S.Ct. 663 (2016), discussed here, the Supreme Court of the...

Allegedly No Goodness to be Thankful for at TGI Friday's for Drink Consumers, But Class Certification Gets Reversed

Dugan v. TGI Fridays, Inc., 445 N.J. Super. 59 (App. Div. 2016). This putative consumer class action has a long procedural history, including a previous appeal to the Appellate Division,...

Debt Collector Has the Burden of Proving Its Right to Invoke an Exception to the FDCPA

Evankavitch v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC, 793 F.3d 355 (3d Cir. 2015). "[A]bsent compelling reasons to the contrary, a party seeking shelter in an exception to the statute has the...

A Turning Point for the Carrera v. Bayer Ascertainability Doctrine?

Byrd v. Aaron's Inc., 784 F.3d 154 (3d Cir. 2015). In this case under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §2511, there were "objective records" that could "readily identify"...

Trial Period Plan Agreement With Mortgage Lender is a Conditional Agreement to Modify a Mortgage

Arias v. Elite Mortgage Group, Inc., 439 N.J. Super. 273 (App. Div. 2015). This opinion by Judge Reisner affirmed a grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant bank...

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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....