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

45 Years Since Manning Engineering, Inc. v. Hudson County Park Commission

On this date in 1977, the Supreme Court decided Manning Engineering, Inc. v. Hudson County Park Comm'n, 74 N.J. 113 (1977). The unanimous opinion by Justice Pashman vacated a judgment...

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...

Two Supreme Court Grants of Leave to Appeal From Published Opinions

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted leave to appeal in two cases. Both are from published opinions of the Appellate Division. DiFiore v. Pezic involves three cases that...

Two by Justice Albin

Fowler v. Akzo Nobel Chemicals, Inc., 251 N.J. 300 (2022); Linden Democratic Committee v. City of Linden, 251 N.J. 415 (2022). As Justice Albin's tenure on the Supreme Court nears...

Tinted Windows and Automobile Stops

State v. Smith, 251 N.J. 244 (2022). Here is how Justice Solomon began his opinion for a unanimous Court in this case today: "N.J.S.A. 39:3-74 prohibits operation of a vehicle...

Parties That Behaved Wrongfully Could Not Demand Marketability Discount in Shareholder Buyout Case

Sipko v. Koger, Inc., ___ N.J. ___ (2022). This is the second time that this intra-family business divorce case came before the Supreme Court. The first iteration, which dates back...

Three Supreme Court Decisions in Criminal Cases

The last few days have seen three opinions by the Supreme Court in criminal appeals. Here are summaries of those decisions: State v. Rivas, 251 N.J. 132 (2022). This opinion...

Two Compassionate Releases Get Put on the Fast Track at the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two new cases, State v. A.M. and State v. Oliver. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's...

Common Law Rescue Doctrine Does Not Extend to Rescue of Property, as Opposed to People

Samolyk v. Berthe, 251 N.J. 732 (2022). As discussed here, this case involved a set of facts in which one of the plaintiffs jumped into a lagoon to rescue their...

No Need for Three-Day Attorney Review Clause in Absolute Auction Sale of Residential Real Estate

Sullivan v. Max Spann Real Estate & Auction Co., 251 N.J. 45 (2022). In an opinion reported at 465 N.J. Super. 243 (App. Div. 2020), and discussed here, the Appellate...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 181920 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100…Last

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."...