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

The Appellate Division Holds That Long Branch's Amended Oceanfront-Broadway Redevelopment Plan is Valid, Rejecting Ultra Vires, Spot Zoning, and Other Challenges

Blackridge Realty, Inc. v. The City of Long Branch, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). Pursuant to a written developer's agreement, plaintiff ("Blackridge") was a designated redeveloper under the City of Long Branch's Oceanfront-Broadway Redevelopment Plan. That plan was adopted pursuant to the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law ("LRHL"), N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-1 et seq. Blackridge successfully completed its redevelopment project....

Property Cannot be Condemned Solely to Exchange it for Property That Will be Put to a Public Use

Township of Jackson v. Getzel Bee, LLC, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). This eminent domain opinion by Judge Berdote Byrne involved two consolidated cases. Plaintiff Township sought to acquire two pieces of property owned by defendants, .Block 21601, Lots 84 and 90. When defendants did not respond, plaintiff commenced condemnation proceedings....

Returning From the Break- Appellate Division Opinions

During this blog's early August break, the Appellate Division issued three published opinions. Here are summaries: T.B. v. I.W., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2024). This was an appeal...

Either Side of July 4

With July 4 falling on a Tuesday, some of us took the opportunity to extend the preceding weekend into some or all of the last days of June, July 3,...

No Need for Attorney Retainer Agreements to State Expressly That Billing Will be in Tenths of an Hour or Other Increments

Arbus, Maybruch & Goode, LLC v. Cohen, 475 N.J. Super. 509 (App. Div. 2023). In this suit by a law firm to collect its fee from a client (actually, an...

Tolling of Statute of Limitations for Claims by Minors Does Not Apply to Minors Who Have Died, and on Whose Behalf a Wrongful Death Case is Brought

Monk v. Kennedy University Hospital, Inc., 473 N.J. Super. 178 (App. Div. 2022). This opinion today by Judge Berdote Byrne is, I believe, her first published decision for the Appellate...

Another Temporary Assignment to the Appellate Division for Three Judges

Chief Justice Rabner announced that Judges Berdote Byrne, Bishop-Thompson, and Marczyk have each been temporarily assigned to the Appellate Division, effective August 1, 2022. There is no end date for...

Four New Temporary Appointees to the Appellate Division

The Supreme Court announced today that four judges are being temporarily assigned to the Appellate Division, "effective March 14, 2022 through May 23, 2022, to serve on such Parts as...

"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....