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

"Building the Trial Record and Arguing it on Appeal"

This seminar, sponsored by the Morris County Bar Association, took place last night. The headliners of the panel of presenters were Justice Patterson and Judges Axelrad, Sabatino, and Stern. [Disclosure:...

Reminder: September 16 Morris County Bar Association Appellate Practice Seminar

This seminar, previously mentioned here, has the official title of "Building the Trial Record and Arguing it on Appeal." [Disclosure: As you can see in the link, I am one of...

CEPA and "Watchdog" Employees

Lippman v. Ethicon, Inc., 432 N.J. Super. 378 (App. Div. 2013). Today's opinion under the Conscientious Employee Protection Act, N.J.S.A. 34:19-1 to -8 ("CEPA"), written by Judge Fuentes, reversed a summary...

An Advertisement: "Extraordinary CLE Program With Justice Patterson; Judges Axelrad (PJAD), Sabatino (JAD), and Stern (PJAD- retired); Bruce D. Greenberg, Esq., and Mattheu Nunn, Esq."

The title of this post is the title of an e-mail that went to members of the Morris County Bar Association to announce a seminar on appellate practice that will...

A Noticeable Drop in Oral Argument Requests in the Appellate Division

In an article available here, Law360 reports today that there has been a precipitious drop in requests for oral argument in the Appellate Division. Citing statistics from the judiciary, the...

Nine Grounds for Reversal? Or None?

I just happened on this quotation from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. "When a party comes to us with nine grounds for reversing the district court, that usually means...

Argument Not Raised Below, and Raised on Appeal Only in a Footnote, Would Not be Considered

Oyola v. Liu, 431 N.J. Super. 493 (App. Div. 2013). The main thrust of this opinion by Judge Alvarez was to affirm a decision of the Law Division that granted summary...

The Consumer Fraud Act in Condominium Construction Defect Litigation

Belmont Condominium Ass'n, Inc. v. Geibel, 432 N.J. Super. 52 (App. Div. 2013). This case resulted in another magnum opus by Judge Parrillo. Plaintiff sued over defective construction of a...

Another Big Win for the Hoboken Rent Board

Heyert v. Taddese, 431 N.J. Super. 388 (App. Div. 2013). [Disclosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, represented the Hoboken Rent Leveling & Stabilization Board in this appeal and in the other...

Frustration of Purpose and Impossibility of Performance Must be Pleaded as Affirmative Defenses

JB Pool Management, LLC v. Four Seasons at Smithville Homeowners Ass'n, Inc., 431 N.J. Super. 233 (App. Div. 2013). Plaintiff, a pool management company, contracted with defendant condominium association to supply lifeguards...

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No Ethics Violation in Attorney Purchasing Another Attorney's Name as a Keyword for Internet Searches, the Supreme Court Says, With a Caveat

In re Opinion No. 735 of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). [Disclosure: I represented an amicus curiae in this appeal]. As Justice Noriega said in his opinion for a 5-1 majority (Justice Pierre-Louis did not participate), this appeal "presents the narrow question of whether it is permissible under the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) for an attorney or law firm to purchase a competing attorney's or law firm's name as a keyword." The Court found it permissible, with a caveat. Justice Fasciale dissented....

Four Criminal Law Cases, and a Qui Tam Appeal, for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted review in five new appeals. One of them is before the Court on leave to appeal, while in the others the Court granted certification....

The "Limited Attorney Exemption" of the Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act is Held Unconstitutional as Violative of the Separation of Powers and Void for Vagueness

Anchor Law Firm, PLLC v. State of New Jersey, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). The Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act, N.J.S.A. 17:16G-1 et seq. ("DACCA"), prohibits debt adjusters in New Jersey from operating for a profit. There is an exception for attorneys not "principally engaged" (a term not defined in the statute) in debt adjustment. That exception, adopted in a 1986 amendment, replaced a prior version of the DACCA that had exempted all attorneys from its scope....

Appellate Division Oral Argument of the Week: Where a Party Files a Suit Alleged to Violate the UPEPA But Quickly Dismisses It, Can Defendants Then Get Counsel Fees Under the Statute?

On May 15, judges on Part C of the Appellate Division will hear oral argument in Satz v. Keshet Starr. Plaintiff, acting pro se, filed a defamation suit against defendants. Defendants filed an o order to show cause to dismiss the case and for attorneys' fees under the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-49 et seq. ("UPEPA"). The UPEPA, enacted in 2023, sought to make it more difficult to use the legal system as a weapon to bully individuals into silence by filing what have been known as SLAPP ("strategic lawsuits against public participation") suits....