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

The Dawn of Regulation of Cable Television

Forty years ago today, when cable television was in relative infancy, the Appellate Division decided In re Promulgation of Rules of Practice and Regulations for the Office of Cable Television,...

A "Bright-Line Directive": Post-Verdict, Ex Parte Communications Between a Judge and Jury Are Always Forbidden

Davis v. Husain, 220 N.J. 270 (2014). "Post-verdict ex parte communication between the trial court and jurors cannot be countenanced." That is the holding of today's opinion, for a unanimous Supreme...

Deferring to the Factfinder's Credibility Determinations

New Jersey Division of Child Protection & Permanency v. B.O., 438 N.J. Super. 373 (App. Div. 2014). Very few appeals are based on the argument that the finder of fact...

A Decision of First Impression: Tort Liability for Injuries in Youth Sports

C.J.R. v. G.A., 438 N.J. Super. 387 (App. Div. 2014). Near the end of a closely-contested lacrosse game in a youth recreational league for less advanced players, a twelve-year-old player suffered a fractured arm after an eleven-year-old...

"Brown" Wins a Tax Penalty Appeal in the Supreme Court

United Parcel Service Gen. Servs. Co. v. Director, Div. of Taxation, 220 N.J. 90 (2014). This per curiam decision of the Supreme Court today affirmed an Appellate Division decision, written by Judge...

Co-Op Owner Has Free Speech Right to Leaflet as Part of Campaign for Co-Op Board Seat

Dublirer v. 2000 Linwood Avenue Owners, Inc., 220 N.J. 71 (2014). In State v. Schmid, 84 N.J. 585 (1980), and New Jersey Coalition Against War in the Middle East v....

Writing a Persuasive Introductory Statement: A Lesson From Judge Reisner

Moran v. Board of Trustees, Police & Firemen's Retirement System, 438 N.J. Super. 346 (App. Div. 2014). This appeal was by a firefighter who sought an accidental disability retirement pension under...

Immunity for Actions of Hospital Internal Review Committees

Hurwitz v. AHS Hospital Corp., 438 N.J. Super. 269 (App. Div. 2014). The Healthcare Quality Improvement Act of 1986 ("HCQIA"), 42 U.S.C. §§11111-11112, creates an immunity from damages claims arising...

Judge Gibbons Whipple Continues on Part G of the Appellate Division

As reported here, Judge Gibbons Whipple was previously elevated to the Appellate Division, to serve on Part G, for a term extending from September 15, 2014 through November 23, 2014. Today,...

No Sufficient Findings Below, So No Appellate Ruling on Constitutional Challenge to Advance Voter Registration Statute

Rutgers University Student Assembly v. Middlesex Cty. Bd. of Elections, 438 N.J. Super. 93 (App. Div. 2014). Plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of N.J.S.A. 19:31-6.3b, which, as Judge Haas described it...

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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....

"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....