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

A Summary Reversal in an Election Case

Board of Education of East Newark v. Harris, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Rule 2:8-3(b) allows the Appellate Division to decide appeals summarily without notice to the parties....

Employers are Obligated to Reimburse Employees for Medical Marijuana Treatment Reasonably Necessary to Treat Work-Related Injuries

Hager v. M&K Construction, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). As discussed here, the Appellate Division in this case affirmed the decision of a Workers Compensation judge that the defendant employer was...

Properly Dismissed From an MDL? Yes. Properly Dismissed With Prejudice? No.

Hamer v. Livanova Deustschland GMBH, ____ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2021). This appeal involved one of many cases comprising MDL 2816, which is venued in the United States District Court...

Attorneys' Fees Under the Common Law Right of Access

Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC v. Township of Neptune, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Prudent practitioners who file cases under the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et...

Relief From Judgment Under Rule 4:50-1(f) in a Tax Sale Foreclosure Case

BV001 REO Blocker, LLC v. 53 West Somerset Properties, LLC, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Judge Ostrer's opinion in this case, issued today, may become the new "go-to"...

Incarceration is Not a Per Se Bar to Unemployment Benefits

Haley v. Board of Review, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). Here are the basic facts of this appeal as Justice Solomon summarized them in his opinion for the Court in this...

Painting Over Lines on a Paved Street is Not "Obstructing" the Street

State v. Williams, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Defendant was convicted in Municipal Court for violating an ordinance that stated that "No person shall unnecessarily obstruct any...

Justice Pierre-Louis's First Opinion for the Court

State v. Outland, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). This unanimous ruling was the first opinion authored by Justice Pierre-Louis. It was a robbery case in which defendant, who had a prior...

Two FDCPA Opinions From Judge Porter

Moyer v. Patenaude & Felix, A.P.C., ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2021); Klotz v. Celentano Stadtmauer and Walentowicz LLP, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2021). These two opinions, both by...

Successor Liability (or Non-Liability) on a Commercial Lease

160 West Broadway Associates, LP v. 1 Memorial Drive, LLC, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Judge Messano issued this opinion for the Appellate Division today. Though there were...

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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."...