Rule 5:25 Preservation of Issues for Appellate Review

If you disagree with something the judge does during your trial, you must speak up right then and say so clearly. If you stay quiet and just go along with the ruling, you give up your right to complain about it later when you appeal.

Saying something vague like "the verdict was wrong" is not enough. You need to state your specific objection at the time the judge makes the ruling. The court will not guess what your problem was with the decision.

There are rare exceptions if you have a very good reason for not objecting at the time, or if the appeals court thinks fairness requires them to look at the issue anyway. But do not count on those exceptions to save you. The safest approach is always to clearly state your objection the moment the judge makes a ruling you disagree with.