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

Hearsay, Business Record, and Expert Testimony Errors Require a New Trial

Gonzalez v. Hugelmeyer, 441 N.J. Super. 451 (App. Div. 2015). This auto accident case went to trial and produced a verdict for plaintiffs. The defendant driver appealed, and the Appellate...

The Appellate Division Lineup for 2015-16

Chief Justice Rabner has issued the General Assignment Order for 2015-16. The full Order, whose assignments take effect on September 1, 2015, can be viewed here. As far as the Appellate Division...

A Tour (De Force) Through the Evidence Rules as Applied to Expert Testimony

James v. Ruiz, 440 N.J. Super. 45 (App. Div. 2015). This opinion by Judge Sabatino is like the law school evidence class that some of us wish we had taken....

"To Each His Own": The Affidavit of Merit Statute Requires an Affidavit From a "Like-Licensed" Professional

Hill International, Inc. v. Atlantic City Bd. of Educ., 438 N.J. Super. 562 (App. Div. 2014). The Affidavit of Merit statute, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-26 to -29, requires that a plaintiff in...

A Decision of First Impression: Tort Liability for Injuries in Youth Sports

C.J.R. v. G.A., 438 N.J. Super. 387 (App. Div. 2014). Near the end of a closely-contested lacrosse game in a youth recreational league for less advanced players, a twelve-year-old player suffered a fractured arm after an eleven-year-old...

Immunity for Actions of Hospital Internal Review Committees

Hurwitz v. AHS Hospital Corp., 438 N.J. Super. 269 (App. Div. 2014). The Healthcare Quality Improvement Act of 1986 ("HCQIA"), 42 U.S.C. §§11111-11112, creates an immunity from damages claims arising...

The New Jersey Law Journal Ranks the Appellate Division Judges

This week's New Jersey Law Journal contains the result of a Law Journal survey of practitioners who were asked to rate the judges of the Appellate Division in nine separate...

Last Night's MCBA Appellate Practice Seminar: A Big Hit

Last night, the Morris County Bar Association presented "New Jersey Appellate Practice: Tips from the Bench and Bar." The program and participants were discussed here. Roughly 125 people attended, and...

Morris County Bar Association MCLE Seminar- "New Jersey Appellate Practice: Tips From the Bench and Bar"

In September 2013, the Morris County Bar Association presented a seminar titled "Building the Trial Record and Arguing it on Appeal." The panelists were Justice Patterson, Judges Sabatino, Stern, and...

A Regulation Cannot Trump Its Enabling Statute

Flinn v. Amboy Nat'l Bank, 436 N.J. Super. 274 (App. Div. 2014). This opinion by Judge Sabatino contains, among other things, an encyclopedic discussion of cases that address the standards...

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The Term's Penultimate Week: Two Published Appellate Division Decisions

The 2024-25 Term ends on August 29. In this penultimate week of the Term, there were no Supreme Court opinions. There were, however, two published decisions from the Appellate Division, one a civil case involving "the latest development in the ongoing controversy surrounding black bear hunting in New Jersey" and the other a criminal appeal centering on constitutional rights associated with a cellphone passcode. Here are summaries of those opinions:...

The Week Just Ending: Three Criminal Law Decisions

This week saw one case decided by the Supreme Court and two published opinions of the Appellate Division. The Supreme Court case, decided by a 6-1 vote, presented an ex post facto issue arising out of amendments to the statute governing parole. The two Appellate Division decisions entailed more "core" criminal law issues. Here are summaries of those cases:...

The 2025 Omnibus Court Rule Amendments and Other Changes

The Supreme Court announced amendments to Court Rules and appendices, as well as certain other procedural changes. That announcement is embodied in an Omnibus Rule Amendment Order that is available here....

"Abuse of Discretion" vs. "Patent and Gross Abuse of Discretion"

State v. Taylor, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6(c), a part of the Graves Act, makes the use or possession of a firearm during the commission, attempted commission, or flight from the commission of certain designated offenses a sentencing factor that triggers the imposition of a mandatory term of imprisonment. A later-added section of the Graves Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6.2, creates an "escape valve," under which a prosecutor may seek from the court a waiver of the imposition of a mandatory minimum sentence where the prosecutor believes that such a sentence would not serve the interest of justice....