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

A Public Employee's Date of Separation From Employment and the Reasons Therefor Are Not Exempt From Disclosure Under OPRA

Libertarians for Transparent Government v. Cumberland County, ___ N.J. ___ (2022). This is an Open Public Records Act ("OPRA") case. A woman who had been incarcerated at the Cumberland County...

Appointing Wife's Children as Her Guardian in Divorce Proceeding Did Not Render Subsequent Settlement Unconscionable

D.M.C. v. K.H.G., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2022). This Family Part appeal involved the dissolution of a marriage that had lasted 31 years. As Judge Mawla described in...

Immunity Under the Landowner's Liability Act

Russi v. City of Newark, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2022). [Disclosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg & Afanador, LLC, represents the City of Newark in certain matters, but...

Two Concise Opinions, by Judges Fisher and Currier

In the last two days, Judges Fisher and Currier, respectively, authored published opinions that consumed fewer than ten pages. Here they are: State v. M.K.P., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App...

The Supreme Court Upholds the Redistricting Commission's Choice of the Democrats' Congressional District Map

In re Establishment of Congressional Districts by the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, ___ N.J. ___ (2022). As summarized here, in a lawsuit brought directly to the Supreme Court under its...

No Breach of Contract or Negligence Per Se Claims in Medical Negligence Case

Labega v. Joshi, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2022). Judge Accurso's opinion in this case began as follows: "We permitted defendants in this medical malpractice action leave to appeal...

Judge Smith Explains the Third Circuit's Standard for Rule 23(f) Appeals of Grants or Denials of Class Certification

Laudato v. EQT Corporation, ___ F.4th ___ (3d Cir. 2022). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f) states that "[a] court of appeals may permit an appeal from an order granting...

Workers' Compensation Benefits Were Due to Plaintiff, Under the "Premises Rule"

Lapsley v. Sparta Tp., ___ N.J. ___ (2022). As discussed here, this Workers' Compensation Act case was one in which plaintiff, a librarian at the Sparta Public Library, was walking...

Lodzinski Murder Conviction is Reversed by a 4-3 Supreme Court Vote

State v. Lodzinski, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). Today, the Supreme Court voted 4-3 to reverse the murder conviction of Michelle Lodzinski. Previously, as discussed here, the Court had split 3-3...

This Week's Published Opinions

Today is a court holiday for New Jersey state and federal courts. That affords an opportunity to catch up with this week's published opinions from the Supreme Court,, the Appellate...

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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."...