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

Comparative Negligence of John Doe Defendant is Generally to be Considered in Apportioning Damages

Krzykalski v. Tindall, 448 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 2016). This was an auto accident case. At trial, the jury was allowed to consider in the comparative negligence mix not...

The Legislative Review Clause of the New Jersey Constitution

Communication Workers of America, AFL-CIO v. New Jersey Civil Service Comm'n, 447 N.J. Super. 584 (App. Div. 2016). Article V, section 4, paragraph 6 of the New Jersey Constitution, approved...

The "Tender Years" Hearsay Exception

State of New Jersey in the Interest of A.R., 447 N.J. Super. 485 (App. Div. 2016). Judge Sabatino teaches at Rutgers-Camden Law School. Students there pay to be educated by...

Another New Justice is Launched: Justice Timpone's First Opinion

State v. Bryant, 227 N.J. 60 (2016). As has been noted before, a new Justice's first opinion is customarily a unanimous one in a relatively uncomplicated case. Today, Justice Timpone...

Grandparent Visitation Redux

Slawinski v. Nicholas, 448 N.J. Super. 25 (App. Div. 2016). There are a surprising number of published New Jersey cases in the family context regarding grandparent visitation of grandchildren. Examples...

An Attorney Disqualification Mess

Estate of Francis P. Kennedy v. Rosenblatt, 447 N.J. Super. 444 (App. Div. 2016). Judge Nugent's decision for the Appellate Division in this case today encapsulated in its opening paragraph...

No Valid Settlement With DEP Absent Signature and Public Notice of Proposed Settlement

Cumberland Farms, Inc. v. New Jersey Dep't of Environmental Protection, 447 N.J. Super. 444 (App. Div. 2016). Plaintiff ("CFI") operates convenience stores and gas stations in many locations in New...

The "Single Publication Rule" and the One-Year Statute of Limitations Bar a Defamation Case

Petro-Lubricant Testing Laboratories, Inc. v. Adelman, 447 N.J. Super. 391 (App. Div. 2016). The "single publication rule" gives a defamation plaintiff "a single cause of action, which arises at the...

Certain Frivolous Litigation Sanctions are Reversed, But One Such Sanction is Affirmed

Tagayun v. AmeriChoice of New Jersey, Inc., 446 N.J. Super. 570 (App. Div. 2016). As Judge Higbee noted in her opinion for the Appellate Division today, Rule 1:4-8 or N.J.S.A....

Remittitur Decisions Cannot Take Account of Awards in Other Cases

Cuevas v. Wentworth Group, 226 N.J. 480 (2016). In He v. Miller, 207 N.J. 230 (2011), the Supreme Court addressed issues of remittitur at length and in detail. Among other...

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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."...