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

A Statute Trumps the Common Law

Farmers Mut. Fire Ins. Co. of Salem v. New Jersey Property-Liability Ins. Guar. Ass'n, 215 N.J. 552 (2013). Today's unanimous opinion by Justice Albin addresses the proper allocation of environmental cleanup...

Brief Administrative Determination Addressed to Spanish-Speaking Puerto Rican Resident Must be Translated Into Spanish in Its Entirety in Order to Satisfy Due Process

Alicea v. Board of Review, 432 N.J. Super. 347 (App. Div. 2013). In Rivera v. Board of Review, 127 N.J. 578 (1992), a case that, like today's decision, involved a...

Railroad Can Take Private Property if "Not Incompatible With the Public Interest" and as "The Exigencies of Business May Demand"

Norfolk Southern Railway Co. v. Intermodal Properties, LLC, 210 N.J. 261 (2013). New Jersey law allows railroads and public utilities to take private property by eminent domain. N.J.S.A. 48:3-17.7 requires that any such taking...

Marcus v. BMW Reiterated

Hayes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 725 F.3d 349 (3d Cir. 2013). In this consumer class action, the Third Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Scirica, vacated class certification. That decision rested largely...

The Appellate Division Announces a New Right to Counsel in Certain Post-Conviction Relief Proceedings

State v. Quixal, 431 N.J. Super. 502 (App. Div. 2013). Today's post is a guest post by Jeffrey A. Shooman, one of my colleagues in the Appellate Practice Group at Lite DePalma...

"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...

Supreme Court Denies Review of Senatorial Election Dispute

This afternoon, the Supreme Court issued an Order denying plaintiffs' petition for certification in this election matter. As the Order notes, that disposition moots plaintiffs' request for emergent relief. The special...

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Says Mandatory Judicial Retirement at Age 70 is Not Unconstitutional

This blog previously posed the question "Is Mandatory Judicial Retirement at 70 Unconstitutional?" That was because some Pennsylvania judges had challenged that state's requirement that judges retire at age 70,...

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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....