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

State Senate Calls on Justice Rivera-Soto to Resign

More than two months after Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto provoked a crisis regarding the temporary appointment of Appellate Division Presiding Judge Edwin Stern to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant...

"You are My Sunshine, My Only Sunshine"

McGovern v. Rutgers, The State University, 418 N.J. Super. 458 (App. Div. 2011). New Jersey's Sunshine Law, also known as the Open Public Meetings Act, N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 to -21, is the focus...

A Consoling Thought for Those Who Lose in the Supreme Court

On this date in 1892, Robert H. Jackson, later a Justice of the United States Supreme Court, was born. Justice Jackson, an appointee of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was also...

Supreme Court of New Jersey Will Review Attorneys' Fee Enhancement Case

The Supreme Court of New Jersey has granted certification to review that portion of the decision in Walker v. Giuffre, 415 N.J. Super. 597 (App. Div. 2010), that involved an...

Expungement of Conviction Does Not Make Reference to That Conviction Tortious

G.D. v. Kenny, 205 N.J. 275 (2011). A political campaign flyer charged that a candidate had as an aide "a DRUG DEALER who went to JAIL for FIVE YEARS for selling coke...

When May a Party Unilaterally Withdraw an Appeal?

State v. Gaffey, 92 N.J. 374 (1983). Today is the 28th anniversary of this opinion, so it seems appropriate to revisit this case today. Though the "meritorious issue [was] whether...

Attorneys' Fees Under the "Fund in Court" Doctrine

Porreca v. City of Millville, 419 N.J. Super. 212 (App. Div. 2011). Rule 4:42-9(a)(2) permits recovery of attorneys' fees from a "fund in court." Porreca, a decision written by Judge Axelrad, held that the...

Increased Penalties for Violations of "This" Section- Which Section??

State v. Ciancaglini, 204 N.J. 597 (2011). This case posed the question of whether a violation of the breathalyzer refusal statute, N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.4a, can be used to enhance a conviction under the DWI...

New Jersey Judiciary Website Updated

The courts are closed today for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. That may mean that there is some time to check out the recently updated version of the New Jersey...

Abbott v. Burke- Back to Judge Doyne

Abbott v. Burke, 2011 WL 1990554 (2011). On January 5, 2011, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in the latest of the many rounds of this case, which involves the constitutionally-required level...

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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....