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

Three New Supreme Court Grants of Review

The Supreme Court announced that it will consider three new matters. Two of those involved grants of certification, while the third was an appeal as of right. The appeal as...

Bidder for a Public Contract Need Not Provide Home Addresses of Persons Owning More Than 10% of the Bidding Company

Asphalt Paving Systems, Inc. v. The Borough of Stone Harbor, 474 N.J. Super. 56 (App. Div. 2022). This opinion by Judge Fisher today consumed only six pages. The issue was...

Statutory Limit on Removed Municipal Administrator's "Salary" Applies to "Severance"

Carelli v. Borough of Caldwell, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2022). N.J.S.A. 40A:9-138 deals with the removal of a municipal administrator from office. The statute provides for a resolution...

The Effect of an Amendment to Prong Two of the "Best Interests of the Child" Test in Termination of Parental Rights Proceedings

New Jersey Division of Child Protection & Permanency v. D.C.A., 474 N.J. Super. 11 (App. Div. 2022). This opinion today by Judge Whipple affirmed the decision of a Family Part...

The First Published Appellate Division Decisions of October

Today, and on two days last week, the Appellate Division issued its first published opinions since September 29. Here are summaries of those decisions. Meyers v. State Health Benefit Commission...

The Underinsured Motorist Coverage Requirement of the Transportation Network Company Safety and Regulatory Act Does Not Apply to Food Delivery Services

Malzberg v. Josey, 473 N.J. Super. 537 (App. Div. 2022). Here is how Judge Susswein's opinion for the Appellate Division in this case described the purely legal issue presented. "This...

The Supreme Court Begins the New Term by Granting Review in Five Cases

The Supreme Court announced the first grants of review in the new Term. The Court took up five cases. Two of those are before the Court on leave to appeal...

The Second Half of August

As usually occurs with the current Term nearing its end, the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division have issued relatively few opinions in the second half of August. Here are...

The First Week of August

The dog days of summer often see the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division issuing opinions in cases argued earlier in the Term. The Third Circuit is often more active...

Insurance, Attorneys' Fees in a Common Law Right of Access to Public Documents Case, and Expungement Under the Cannabis Act Will be Before the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in three new cases. Two of them, both civil matters, were grants of certification. The third appeal, a criminal case, is...

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An Arbitration Case and a Cannabis Land Use Appeal for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two new appeals. One of those is from a published Appellate Division decision, while the other appeal is from an unpublished opinion of a two-judge Appellate Division panel....

Murder Trial Judge Inadequately Addressed Juror Misconduct, Requiring Remand to Determine Whether Jury Was Tainted

State v. Byrd, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). Justice Noriega authored the Court's unanimous opinion in this case today. During the murder trial that led to this appeal, allegations of misconduct by a certain juror, No. 8, surfaced. That juror allegedly conducted outside research, discussed the case with third parties, texted one of the defendants, and expressed an intent to find defendants guilty. The trial judge questioned Juror No. 8, but on appeal from defendants' convictions, the Supreme Court concluded that the trial court's inquiry "was insufficiently tailored to the allegations against the juror, failed to probe into the heart of the allegations, and was therefore inadequate." The Court remanded the case for further proceedings....

Attorney General's Supersession of the Paterson Police Department Was Not Arbitrary, Capricious, or Unreasonable

Bulur v. Office of the Attorney General, ___ N.J. ___ (2025). In 2023, after a fatal shooting by Paterson police officers, the New Jersey Attorney General announced on March 27, 2023 that his office was superseding (that is, taking over responsibility for) the Paterson Police Department. Lawsuits were filed and transferred to the Appellate Division. In an opinion reported at 480 N.J. Super. 395 (App. Div. 2024), and summarized here, the Appellate Division voided the supersession. Today, the Supreme Court reversed in a unanimous opinion by Justice Patterson....

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....