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

Construction Lien Law's "Signatory-Requirement Amendments" Do Not Apply Retroactively

Diamond Beach, LLC v. March Associates, Inc., 457 N.J. Super. 265 (App. Div. 2018). Judge Fasciale's opinion in this construction case today dealt with a narrow issue projected by a...

Assignor's Loss of a Mortgage Note Does Not Preclude Foreclosure by an Assignee

Investors Bank v. Torres, 457 N.J. Super. 53 (App. Div. 2018). In this foreclosure case, the plaintiff bank was the assignee of a note that was secured by a mortgage....

At-Will Employee Cannot Bring Oppressed Shareholder Claim Based on Termination of Employment

Metro Commercial Management Services, Inc. v. Van Istendal, 457 N.J. Super. 66 (App. Div. 2018). This opinion, issued today, is the first published opinion authored by Judge Firko. It involves...

Flanzman v. Jenny Craig, Inc. Reissued by the Appellate Division

Flanzman v. Jenny Craig, Inc., 456 N.J. Super. 613 (App. Div. 2018). The Appellate Division previously issued its opinion in this case, written by Judge Fasciale, on October 17, 2018,...

Equitable Adoption Doctrine Cannot be Used to Destroy Inheritance Rights

In re Estate of Douglas Castellano and Parentage of Gregory Bock, 456 N.J. Super. 510 (App. Div. 2018). This unusually captioned appeal presented a Chancery issue that was right up...

A Pinata, A Pole, and an Injury

Piech v. Layendecker, 456 N.J. Super. 367 (App. Div. 2018). This opinion by Judge Fasciale effectively summarizes all the issues, and the result on each issue, in its opening paragraph....

No Meeting of the Minds Where Arbitration Clause Did Not Specify Arbitration Forum or Process

Flanzman v. Jenny Craig, Inc., 456 N.J. Super. 613 (App. Div. 2018). This opinion by Judge Fasciale today is yet another case arising out of an arbitration clause. Plaintiff, having...

A Banner Day in the Appellate Division for Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC and Its Clients

Russo v. Friedrich, 2018 WL 4904555 (App. Div. Oct. 10, 2018); City of Newark Public Schools v. OPEIU Local 32, 2018 WL 4905414 (App. Div. Oct. 10, 2018). It's a...

Big Pharma Wins in Another Supreme Court Accutane Decision

In re Accutane Litigation, 235 N.J. 229 (2018). [Disclosure: I argued this appeal, together with co-counsel, on behalf of the plaintiffs. The opinions expressed in this post are mine alone,...

"Deemed Adopted" Administrative Law Judge Disciplinary Decision Gets the Same Deference on Appeal as Agency's Imposition of Discipline or Trial Court's Sentencing Decision

In re Hendrickson, 235 N.J. 145 (2018). This first Supreme Court opinion of the current Term is by Justice Albin. The opening paragraphs of his ruling concisely and completely describe...

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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....