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

Reinforcements for the Appellate Division

Due to a major of my own in a mass tort case on Tuesday of this week, I missed the announcement that five trial level judges are receiving additional temporary...

The Requirement to Submit All Items From Below on Summary Judgment Appeals Applies Whether Summary Judgment Was Granted or Denied

Noren v. Heartland Payment Systems, Inc., 449 N.J. Super. 193 (App. Div. 2017). On February 6, 2017, the Appellate Division issued a published opinion in this case, which was discussed...

Third-Year Law Students May Now Appear Before the Appellate Division

Today, the Supreme Court announced an amendment to Rule 1:21-3(b). That rule has, until now, permitted third-year law students at ABA-approved law schools to appear before trial courts or agencies...

Withdrawing a Published Opinion

State v. Jones, 449 N.J. Super. 12 (App. Div. 2017). In the "old days," when judicial opinions appeared only in books, there was a procedure for withdrawing an Appellate Division...

Financial Institution's Non-Compliance With Internal Policy Does Not Create a Duty to Non-Customers

Wolens v. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC, 449 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2017). In the opening paragraph of his opinion for the Appellate Division today, Judge Sabatino encapsulated virtually...

Offers of Judgment and High-Low Agreements

Serico v. Rothberg, 448 N.J. Super. 604 (App. Div. 2017). In this medical malpractice case, plaintiff and defendant entered into a "high-low" agreement while awaiting a jury verdict. As Judge...

Whether a Child is Emancipated Requires Full Legal Analysis, and Findings and Conclusions

Ricci v. Ricci, 448 N.J. Super. 546 (App. Div. 2017). As Judge Lihotz observed in the opening sentence of her opinion for the Appellate Division in this case, Newburgh v....

Supreme Court Will Review a Defamation Case, a Vehicle Search Case, and a Warrantless Entry Case

The Supreme Court announced today the addition to three more cases to its docket. The first of those appeals comes from a published opinion of the Appellate Division. Petro-Lubricant Testing...

The "Time of Application Rule" and the Definition of an "Application for Development" That Triggers That Rule

Dunbar Homes, Inc. v. Franklin Tp. Bd. of Adj., 448 N.J. Super. 583 (App. Div. 2017). The Municipal Land Use Law ("MLUL"), in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-10.5, contains a "time of application...

Two Issues Under the Open Public Meetings Act

Kean Federation of Teachers v. Morell, 448 N.J. Super. 520 (App. Div. 2017). As a public body, Kean University's Board of Trustees is subject to the Open Public Meetings Act,...

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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....