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

The Supreme Court Affirms in State v. Rosado

State v. Rosado, 256 N.J. 93 (2023). As discussed here, the Appellate Division, in an opinion by Judge Gilson, held that a January 3, 2002 amendment to the criminal statute...

The Supreme Court Takes Up an IDEA Case

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in Board of Education of the Township of Sparta v. M.N. That is the first grant of review since October 24...

Another Short Week, and Another Catch-Up Post

In the past two weeks, an Appellate Division brief and a Supreme Court petition consumed much time. So, in this shortened Thanksgiving week, it's time to catch up on the...

Res Judicata Before Municipal Land Use Boards: An Anniversary

On this date in 1959, the Supreme Court decided Russell v. Board of Adjustment of Tenafly, 31 N.J. 58 (1959). The case is one of the earliest to address the...

The Supreme Court Takes Up a Civil Service Commission Appeal

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted certification in In the Matter of James Hartnett, Pennsauken. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's office, is...

A Trove of New Appeals for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in six new appeals. In two of them, the Court granted leave to appeal. The other two involved grants of certification....

The Anniversary of Louis Kamm v. Flink

On this date in 1934, the Court of Errors and Appeals, which was then New Jersey's highest court, decided Louis Kamm v. Flink, 113 N.J. L. 582 (E. & A....

Three New Appeals for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in three new appeals. All are from unpublished opinions of the Appellate Division. In Constructural Dynamics, Inc. v. Arch Insurance Co.,...

The Supreme Court Revises the Character and Fitness Questionnaire Regarding Mental Health

The Character and Fitness Questionnaire ("CFQ") is the key document in the review of Bar applicants by the Supreme Court of New Jersey Committee on Character. Section 12 of the...

As the New Term Begins, The Supreme Court Takes up Five New Appeals

Kicking off the new Term, the Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in five new cases. Four of those are civil cases, while one is a criminal matter...

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Sentencing Counsel's Limited Investigation of Defendant's Citizenship Was Not Constitutionally Ineffective in the Circumstances

State v. Hernandez-Peralta, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). Justice Wainer Apter's decision today for a 5-2 Supreme Court majority began by phrasing the issue presented. "In this appeal, we consider whether sentencing counsel was constitutionally ineffective for failing to investigate defendant's citizenship status beyond asking him if he was a United States citizen and receiving an unequivocal ‘yes,' and therefore not advising him that his plea could make him subject to deportation." The majority found, based on the particular facts, that counsel was not constitutionally ineffective, reversing the two lower courts. Justice Noriega, joined by Justice Fasciale, dissented....

The 2025-26 General Assignment Order

Chief Justice Rabner announced the 2025-26 General Assignment Order. It is available here....

New Jersey's Charity Care Program for Hospitals is Not a Per Se Unconstitutional Taking of Property

Englewood Hospital & Medical Center v. State, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). New Jersey has had a charity care program, in one form or another, for 178 years. As Justice Fasciale summarized the current charity care program in his opinion for a unanimous Supreme Court, under the current program "hospitals cannot turn away a patient for inability to pay, N.J.S.A. 26:2H-18.64, and patients who qualify for charity care shall not be billed for services rendered, N.J.A.C. 10:52-11.4. Instead, ‘disproportionate share hospitals' (DSHs), or hospitals that serve a disproportionate number of low-income patients, see N.J.S.A. 26:2H-18.52, receive annual subsidies from the Health Care Subsidy Fund (HCSF) in exchange for providing charity care, see N.J.S.A. 26:2H-18.52, .58, .58d."...

A Municipal Court Administrator is Employed by the Township, Not the Administrative Office of the Courts

Palmisano v. State of New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2025). The opening paragraph of Judge Marczyk's opinion for the Appellate Division well encapsulates what the appeal was about and what the result was. "Plaintiff Lindsay Palmisano appeals from the trial court's April 1, 2024 order dismissing her complaint with prejudice against defendant State of New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts and Municipal Division (AOC) pursuant to Rule 4:6-2(e). The primary issue on appeal is whether plaintiff, a municipal court administrator, is an employee of the AOC, thereby allowing her to assert a claim against the AOC under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), N.J.S.A. 10:5-1 to -49. Based on our review of the record and the applicable legal principles, we conclude plaintiff was employed by Vernon Township (Township), not the AOC, and, therefore, we affirm."...