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

"Courting Justice: 10 New Jersey Cases That Shook the Nation"

Yesterday's Star-Ledger contained a review of this book, which is edited by Paul L. Tractenberg and published by Rutgers University Press. That review is available here. According to the review, the...

40 Years Since Berzito v. Gambino

On this date in 1973, the Supreme Court decided Berzito v. Gambino, 63 N.J. 460 (1973). Berzito was the third in a series of Supreme Court decisions that modernized residential...

The Consumer Fraud Act in Condominium Construction Defect Litigation

Belmont Condominium Ass'n, Inc. v. Geibel, 432 N.J. Super. 52 (App. Div. 2013). This case resulted in another magnum opus by Judge Parrillo. Plaintiff sued over defective construction of a...

"In But Not Of" (Or Just "Of") is Dispositive of Clash Over COAH

In re Plan for the Abolition of the Council on Affordable Housing, 214 N.J. 444 (2013). The Council on Affordable Housing ("COAH") was established as part of the Legislature's response to the...

Both General and Special Benefits Must be Considering in Valuing "Just Compensation" for Takings

Borough of Harvey Cedars v. Karan, 214 N.J. 384 (2013). Using the power of eminent domain, the Borough of Harvey Cedars took a portion of defendants' beachfront property (actually, the Borough took...

Another Big Win for the Hoboken Rent Board

Heyert v. Taddese, 431 N.J. Super. 388 (App. Div. 2013). [Disclosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, represented the Hoboken Rent Leveling & Stabilization Board in this appeal and in the other...

Another Anniversary of the Best Paragraph Ever From the Supreme Court of New Jersey

Two years ago today, I noted the eloquent words of Justice Pashman in the final paragraph of his opinion for the Court in New Jersey Ass'n for Retarded Citizens v....

Recalling the Dawn of Modern Consumer Protection Law

On this date fifty three years ago, the Supreme Court decided Henningsen v. Bloomfield Motors, Inc., 32 N.J. 358 (1960). In a unanimous opinion of over 50 pages, the longest...

DeHanes v. Rothman: An Anniversary

On this date in 1999, the Supreme Court decided DeHanes v. Rothman, 158 N.J. 90 (1999). There, in a unanimous opinion by Justice O'Hern, the Court held that it was...

Six Years Since L.W. v. Toms River Regional Bd. of Educ.

On this date in 2007, the Supreme Court of New Jersey decided L.W. v. Toms River Regional Bd. of Educ., 189 N.J. 381 (2007). That case held that the broad language...

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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."...