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

Another New Jersey Sports Gambling Law Bites the Dust

National Collegiate Athletic Ass'n v. Governor of the State of New Jersey, 799 F.3d 259 (3d Cir. 2015). In 2012, in an effort to aid Atlantic City, New Jersey passed...

What is an "Agenda"? Perhaps the Supreme Court Should Tell Us

Opderbeck v. Midland Park Bd. of Educ., 442 N.J. Super. 40 (App. Div. 2015). The Open Public Meetings Act, N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 to -21 ("OPMA"), adopted in 1975, requires advance notice...

The Supreme Court Sends a Difficult Child Abuse Case Back to the Office of Administrative Law

Department of Children & Families v. E.D.-O., 223 N.J. 166 (2015). Child abuse and neglect cases are often heartbreaking. Branding a parent as abusive and neglectful is a hard step...

Physician Who Was Retired at the Time of "the Occurrence That is the Basis for the Action" is Not "Statutorily Authorized to Testify" as an Expert in a Medical Malpractice Case

Medina v. Pitta, 442 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2015). The New Jersey Medical Care Access and Responsibility and Patients First Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-37 to -42 ("PFA"), "established enhanced qualification...

Redd v. Bowman: The Supreme Court Says That the Faulkner Act Initiative Proponents Must Start All Over Again

Redd v. Bowman, 223 N.J. 87 (2015). In Redd v. Bowman, 433 N.J. Super. 178 (App. Div. 2013), discussed here, the Appellate Division held that an initiative petition with a...

Length of Marriage is Not Alone Dispositive as to Alimony

Gnall v. Gnall, 222 N.J. 414 (2015). N.J.S.A. 2A:14-23(b) lists twelve factors, plus a "catch-all" thirteenth factor, that are to be considered in determining whether to award alimony. One of...

Ordinances Increasing Municipal Appropriations by Not More Than 3.5% Cannot be the Subject of a Faulkner Act Referendum

Roseff v. Byram Tp., 432 N.J. Super. 8 (App. Div. 2013). The referendum provision of the Faulkner Act, N.J.S.A. 40:69A-185, which permits citizens to petition for a referendum to seek to overturn a...

Debt Collector Has the Burden of Proving Its Right to Invoke an Exception to the FDCPA

Evankavitch v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC, 793 F.3d 355 (3d Cir. 2015). "[A]bsent compelling reasons to the contrary, a party seeking shelter in an exception to the statute has the...

IFPA Claims by Private Insurers are Subject to Trial by Jury

Allstate New Jersey Ins. Co. v. Lajara, 222 N.J. 129 (2015). The Insurance Fraud Prevention Act, N.J.S.A. 17:33A-1 to-30 ("IFPA"), permits insurance companies to sue those who engage in insurance...

"Watchdog" Employees are Entitled to Full Protection Under CEPA

Lippman v. Ethicon, Inc., 222 N.J. 362 (2015). In 2013, the Appellate Division determined that so-called "watchdog" employees (that is, employees whose job it is to bring forward issues relating...

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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....