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

The Supreme Court Follows Plain Statutory Language and Limits the "Good Faith Defense" Under the Wage and Hour Law

Branch v. Cream-O-Land Dairy, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). As summarized here, the Appellate Division in this overtime Wage and Hour Law ("WHL") class action case reversed a summary judgment ruling...

Former Rutgers Graduate Student Can Obtain His Own Student Records Under OPRA

Doe v. Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2021). Today, the Appellate Division, speaking through Judge Sumners, issued a decision under the Open...

Gubernatorial Pardon Dissolves Statutory Bar on Expungement of Convictions

In re Petition for Expungement of the Criminal Record Belonging to T.O., ___ N.J. ___ (2021). The first Supreme Court opinion of 2021, issued this morning, was authored by Chief...

The Passaic River Was Navigable at the Route 3 Bridge, Entitling an Injured Maritime Worker to Benefits

Wilson v. Director, Office of Workers Compensation Programs, United States Dep't of Labor, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2020). The final published opinion of the Third Circuit in 2020 was...

A (No) Charitable Immunity Anniversary

As 2005 neared its close, the Supreme Court decided Tonelli v. Wyckoff Tp. Bd. of Educ., 185 N.J. 438 (2005), on December 28 of that year. The case arose when...

Successive Tortfeasors and the "Settlement Credit" of Ciluffo v. Middlesex Gen'l Hosp.

Glassman v. Friedel, 465 N.J. Super. 436 (App. Div. 2020). Ciluffo v. Middlesex Gen'l Hosp., 146 N.J. Super. 476 (App. Div. 1977), was a case involving how to handle a...

Two Accelerated Appeals, and Two Others, for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in four new cases. In two of them, the Court set accelerated schedules. The first of those, which involves five consolidated...

Dog Bite, OPRA, "Ministerial Act," and Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Appeals for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in four new appeals. As is often the case, the nature of those matters is very varied. In Goldhagen v. Pasmowitz,...

The Attorney General's Directives Regarding Release of Police Officer Disciplinary Information Are Upheld by the Appellate Division

In re AG Law Enforcement Directive Nos. 2020-5 & 2020-6, 465 N.J. Super. 111 (App. Div. 2020). Here is how Judge Accurso began her opinion for the Appellate Division in...

Two Grants of Certification and a Solicitation for Amicus Briefs by the Supreme Court

All New Jersey state and federal courts are closed today for Columbus Day. But late last Friday, the Supreme Court announced that it had granted review in two more criminal...

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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....