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

A Reminder From the Appellate Division About Confidential Information

A Notice to the Bar, dated September 1, 2021, was published late yesterday. It is available here. Issued by Judge Messano, the Notice is titled "APPELLATE DIVISION REMINDER TO COUNSEL...

A Practice Tip: When a Judge is Rendering an Oral Opinion, Don't Interrupt and Call Him/Her "Corrupt"

Bascom Corporation v. Paterson Coalition for Housing, Inc., 2021 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1846 (App. Div. Aug. 24, 2021). Periodically, our appellate courts offer lessons in "what not to do"...

Catching Up Again, With the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division

After this post about the Supreme Court's busy August, that Court decided two more cases. Both were criminal appeals. Here are summaries: State v. Hannah, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). This...

Two Decisions About When Judgments Appealed From Are Final

Appellate Division opinions designated as not for publication do not often address legal issues such as whether and when a judgment under appeal is final. But today, the Appellate Division...

Two From the Supreme Court

Gilbert v. Stewart, ___ N.J. ___ (2021); H.C. Equities, L.P. v. County of Union, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). So far this week, the Supreme Court has issued two opinions, with...

The Importance of Spelling Out Findings and Reasons for Judicial Decisions

In re D.L.B., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021); Valarezo-Tirado v. Attorney General of the United States of America, ___ F.4th ___ (3d Cir. 2021). It is a fundamental...

Conversion Therapy Providers Must Pay Damages Provided for in a Settlement Agreement for Breaching That Agreement and Violating a Related Injunction

M.F. v. JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing f/k/a Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality), _2021 N.J. Super. LEXIS ______ (App. Div. 2021). [Disclosure: I argued this appeal for...

Two Rulings in Criminal Cases by the Supreme Court

State v. Szemple, ___ N.J ___ (2021); J.K. v. New Jersey State Parole Bd., ___ N.J. ___ (2021). The Court decided these two criminal appeals in the last two days....

Pleading Standards Under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, and Generally

Oakwood Laboratories, LLC v. Thanoo, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2021). Judge Jordan wrote this opinion. This was a trade secret case that also involved other claims. "More than two...

New Supreme Court Appeals Raise Evidence, Workers' Compensation Act, Nominal Damages, and Affidavit of Merit Issues

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in four new matters. As is often the case, they are a varied group. In Lapsley v. Sparta Tp., the question...

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No Ethics Violation in Attorney Purchasing Another Attorney's Name as a Keyword for Internet Searches, the Supreme Court Says, With a Caveat

In re Opinion No. 735 of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). [Disclosure: I represented an amicus curiae in this appeal]. As Justice Noriega said in his opinion for a 5-1 majority (Justice Pierre-Louis did not participate), this appeal "presents the narrow question of whether it is permissible under the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) for an attorney or law firm to purchase a competing attorney's or law firm's name as a keyword." The Court found it permissible, with a caveat. Justice Fasciale dissented....

Four Criminal Law Cases, and a Qui Tam Appeal, for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted review in five new appeals. One of them is before the Court on leave to appeal, while in the others the Court granted certification....

The "Limited Attorney Exemption" of the Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act is Held Unconstitutional as Violative of the Separation of Powers and Void for Vagueness

Anchor Law Firm, PLLC v. State of New Jersey, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). The Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act, N.J.S.A. 17:16G-1 et seq. ("DACCA"), prohibits debt adjusters in New Jersey from operating for a profit. There is an exception for attorneys not "principally engaged" (a term not defined in the statute) in debt adjustment. That exception, adopted in a 1986 amendment, replaced a prior version of the DACCA that had exempted all attorneys from its scope....

Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: Where a Party Files a Suit Alleged to Violate the UPEPA But Quickly Dismisses It, Can Defendants Then Get Counsel Fees Under the Statute?

On May 15, judges on Part C of the Appellate Division will hear oral argument in Satz v. Keshet Starr. Plaintiff, acting pro se, filed a defamation suit against defendants. Defendants filed an o order to show cause to dismiss the case and for attorneys' fees under the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-49 et seq. ("UPEPA"). The UPEPA, enacted in 2023, sought to make it more difficult to use the legal system as a weapon to bully individuals into silence by filing what have been known as SLAPP ("strategic lawsuits against public participation") suits....