Price v. Hudson Heights Development, LLC, 417 N.J. Super. 462 (App. Div. 2011). The appellant, a frequent objector to development who has also often been successful, pro se, in his objections, won his case below. However, he was unhappy with the lower court’s rationale for ruling in his favor. In an opinion by Judge Parrillo, the Appellate Division dismissed his appeal for want of jurisdiction.
In doing so, the court emphasized two fundamental points of law that are or should be familiar to appellate practitioners. First, only a party who is injured by a decision below may appeal. Second, “appeals are taken from judgments, not opinions of the trial court.” A party who wins a judgment cannot appeal merely because he does not like the reasoning used to rule in his favor.