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

Intra-State Relocation by a Divorced Parent, and Contempt for Unauthorized Moves

A.J. v. R.J., ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019). This opinion by Judge Mawla involved a primary custodial parent (plaintiff) who, due to a rent increase at her Elizabeth...

The "Short and Plain Statement" Requirement of Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Garrett v. Wexford Health, 938 F.3d 69 (3d Cir. 2019). This appeal was brought by a prisoner who claimed, as Chief Judge Smith summarized it, that "were deliberately indifferent to...

Statements Against Interest, a Hearsay Exception

Rowe v. Bell & Gossett Co., 239 N.J. 531 (2019). This first Supreme Court opinion of the new Term, written by Justice Patterson for a unanimous Court, addresses the hearsay...

Third Circuit Roundup

Even as the Appellate Division wound down the number of its published opinions in the second half of August, the Third Circuit seemed to rev up its publication of opinions....

The Appellate Division Elaborates on the Crowe v. DeGioia Standard for Preliminary Injunctive Relief

Yesterday, in an Order authored by Judge Natali, for himself and Judge Messano, the Appellate Division overturned a preliminary injunction against operation of the New Jersey Medical Aid in Dying...

Appellate Division Roundup

The Appellate Division does not issue many opinions in August, as the judges clean up remaining inventory. But there have been some significant published opinions in the last two weeks....

RPC 3.7- Attorneys as Witnesses

Escobar v. Mazie, 460 N.J. Super. 520 (App. Div. 2019). This appeal arose out of an order disqualifying every attorney at the law firm of Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman,...

Traditional Contract Law "Penalty" Clause Analysis Does Not Apply to Matrimonial Settlement Agreements

Holtham v. Lucas, 460 N.J. Super. 308 (App. Div. 2019). As Judge Ostrer noted in the first sentence of his opinion in this case today, "[a]ccording to well-settled contract law,...

A Potentially Pioneering Tort Liability Issue is Left Undecided, Since the Facts Did Not Justify a Verdict for Plaintiffd

G.A.-H. v. K.G.G., 238 N.J. 401 (2019). As noted here, the Supreme Court granted review in this case to address this issue: "Is an individual subject to tort liability for...

A Trio of Published Opinions From the Appellate Division Today

Last week, the Appellate Division issued four published opinions on a single day, as discussed here. Today, the court released three published decisions. Here are summaries of those opinions: New...

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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."...