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

A Golf Cart Injury Gets Sent to Trial

McKeown v. American Golf Club, 462 N.J. Super. 339 (App. Div. 2020). Plaintiff McKeown was playing golf with defendant Robinson and his son-in-law, defendant Capavanni, and a fourth golfer, at...

The Division of Taxation Wins in the Supreme Court on an Inheritance Tax Issue

Estate of Van Riper v. Director, Division of Taxation, 241 N.J. 115 (2020). The taxpayers in this case lost their argument, on summary judgment, before the Tax Court and then...

A "Must Read" Supreme Court Opinion About Attorney Retainer Agreements

Balducci v. Cige, 240 N.J. 574 (2020). In this case, as discussed here, the Appellate Division invalidated a retainer agreement in an opinion reported at 456 N.J. Super. 219 (App....

"Class of One" Equal Protection Claims by Public Employees Are Not Permitted

DiBuonaventura v. Washington Tp., 462 N.J. Super. 260 (App. Div. 2020). Plaintiff was a police officer in Washington Township, Gloucester County. He made several complaints about the conduct of the...

When Does a Dismissal Preclude a Second Case?

Papera v. Pennsylvania Quarried Bluestone Co., 948 F.3d 607 (3d Cir. 2020). Plaintiffs and defendants reached what was believed to be a settlement of their case. At plaintiffs' request, the...

Counsel Who Represented a State Witness in a Murder Case is Disqualified From Representing the Defendant in That Same Case

State v. Faulcon, 462 N.J. Super. 250 (App. Div. 2020). Judge Koblitz did not leave readers in suspense about the outcome of her opinion for the Appellate Division today. Her...

Where a Tenant is in Sole Possession and Control of a Property, the Landlord Has No Duty to the Tenant's Invitee to Clear Snow and Ice

Shields v. Ramslee Motors, 240 N.J. 479 (2020). The Supreme Court always seems to have a snow and ice removal case on its docket. The latest one resulted in an...

No Conflict Preemption of New Jersey's Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act by the Federal Controlled Substances Act

Hager v. M&K Construction, 462 N.J. Super. 146 (App. Div. 2020). Issues relating to medical marijuana have been very contentious. Among other things, the fact that the federal government has...

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

Delanoy v. Township of Ocean, 462 N..J. Super. 78 (App. Div. 2020). The first New Jersey state court published opinion of 2020 goes to Judge Sabatino. The case arose under...

Since Percocet Had Not Relieved Pain After Years of Use, Compensation Court Properly Denied Worker's Application for Benefits to Allow Continuation of Percocet

Martin v. Newark Public Schools, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019). [Disclosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, represents Newark Public Schools in certain matters, but had no involvement...

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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."...