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

A New Test for Defining "Merchandise" Under the Consumer Fraud Act

All the Way Towing, LLC v. Bucks County International, Inc., 236 N.J. 431 (2019). Plaintiffs (an individual and his company, treated as one plaintiff here) purchased a customized tow truck...

The Supreme Court Grants Certification in Five Cases

Late last Friday, the Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in five more cases. There are four civil appeals and one criminal matter. The criminal case is actually...

"Extraordinary Circumstances" Called for Permission to File Late Notice of Tort Claim

O'Donnell v. New Jersey Turnpike Authority, 236 N.J. 335 (2019). Under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 59:1-1 et seq. ("TCA"), a person who wishes to file a tort...

65 Years Since In re Plainfield-Union Water Co.

On this date in 1954, the Supreme Court decided In re Plainfield-Union Water Co., 14 N.J. 296 (1954). Along with Handlon v. Town of Belleville, 4 N.J. 99 (1950), discussed...

"Confusing," "Contradictory," and "Obscure" Provision of Consumer Contract Claimed to Mandate Arbitration is Held Not to Do So

Kernahan v. Home Warranty Administrator of Florida, Inc., 236 N.J. 301 (2019). When the Supreme Court grants review based on a particular issue raised by the petitioner, but the petitioner...

The Supreme Court Answers Certified Questions About the Ticket Resale Law

Finkleman v. National Football League, 236 N.J. 280 (2019). This opinion by Justice Patterson today answers certified questions posed by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals arising out of a...

Drug Court and Expungements

In re Expungement of Arrest-Charge Records of T.B., 236 N.J. 262 (2019). Today, the Supreme Court issued its first opinion of 2019, a unanimous ruling by Chief Justice Rabner. The...

An Anniversary in Supersedeas Bond Law

There are very few cases that discuss Rules 2:9-5 or 2:9-6, the rules dealing with supersedeas bonds. One of those cases, Courvoisier v. Harley Davidson of Trenton, Inc., 162 N.J....

As 2018 Winds Down, the Supreme Court Adds Six More Cases

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in six more cases as 2018 is coming to a close. As is often the case, the new appeals represent a...

The 1,500th Post- Making up a December Deficit

A major Appellate Division argument, appellate briefing, and other work has interfered with keeping up with the courts during December. So it's time for one of this blog's periodic "catch-up"...

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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."...