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

Where a Tenant is in Sole Possession and Control of a Property, the Landlord Has No Duty to the Tenant's Invitee to Clear Snow and Ice

Shields v. Ramslee Motors, 240 N.J. 479 (2020). The Supreme Court always seems to have a snow and ice removal case on its docket. The latest one resulted in an...

Mandatory Minimum Prison Term for Driving With a License Suspended After Multiple DWI's is Constitutional

State v. Pimentel, 461 N.J. Super. 468 (App. Div. 2019). N.J.S.A. 2C:40-26 prohibits driving with a license suspended due to a second or subsequent conviction for driving while intoxicated. The...

Appellate Division Roundup

The Appellate Division does not issue many opinions in August, as the judges clean up remaining inventory. But there have been some significant published opinions in the last two weeks....

Retroactive Hiatus

Due to a Supreme Court brief, a major Appellate Division brief, some personal matters, and issues as to the hosting of this blog, there were no postings here for the...

Statutory Plain Language Wins the Day for a Survivor Benefit Claimant

S.L.W. v. New Jersey Div. of Pensions & Benefits, 238 N.J. 385 (2019). The statute governing the police and firemen's retirement system ("PFRS") makes children and widowed spouses of police...

When New Issues Arise on Appeal, Appellate Division Should Conduct Oral Argument Even if No Party Originally Requested It

State in the Interest of D.M., 238 N.J. 2 (2019). In this juvenile delinquency case, neither the State nor defendant sought oral argument in the Appellate Division. The State, the...

The Appellate Division Redresses a "Train Wreck"

Zahl v. Eastland, 2019 WL 2025237 (App. Div. May 8, 2019). [Disclosure: I argued this appeal for the successful defendants-appellants, having come into the case after the Law Division entered...

Waiver, Forfeiture, the Plain Error Doctrine, and the "Third Circuit Model Jury Instructions"

Robinson v. First State Community Action Agency, 920 F.3d 182 (3d Cir. 2019). This opinion by Judge Fuentes today affirms a plaintiff's verdict in a jury trial under the Americans...

Law Against Discrimination is Not Limited by the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act

Wild v. Carriage Funeral Holdings, Inc., 458 N.J. Super. 416 (App. Div. 2019). Plaintiff in this case under the Law Against Discrimination, N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 to -49 ("LAD"), used medical marijuana,...

A Blast From the Past: The Entire Controversy Doctrine and Legal Malpractice Claims

Dimitrakopoulos v. Borrus, Goldin, Foley, Vignuolo, Hyman and Stahl, P.C., 237 N.J. 91 (2019). In 1997, the Supreme Court decided Olds v. Donnelly, 150 N.J. 424 (1997). That decision held,...

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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....

A "Swan Song" for a False Light Invasion of Privacy Claim on Statute of Limitations Grounds

Chipola v. Flannery, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). As discussed here, this case was one of two that the Supreme Court agreed to review in its first grants of review of the current Term. The question presented was "Does a claim alleging false light invasion of privacy have a one-year statute of limitations, see Swan v. Boardwalk Regency Corp., 407 N.J. Super. 108 (App. Div 2009)?" Today, agreeing with the Law Division and the Appellate Division, the Supreme Court answered "yes."...

What Weapons Offenses Are Subject to the Parole Ineligibility Requirement of the Graves Act?

State v. Cromedy, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). The Graves Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6(c), prescribes a minimum term of incarceration for firearm-related offenses under certain subsections of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5, as well as a mandatory period of parole ineligibility. In this case, the issue was whether a weapons offense conviction of violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(j) is covered by the Graves Act. The Law Division and the Appellate Division each held that it was. The Supreme Court reversed in a unanimous opinion by Justice Noriega....