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

The Passive Voice (and Persuasive Legislative History) Makes the Difference in Statutory Interpretation

Cologna v. Board of Trustees, Police & Firemen's Retirement Syst., 430 N.J. Super. 362 (App. Div. 2013). By statute, a former member of the Police and Firemen's Retirement System ("PFRS") normally has two...

Election Laws Have Flexibility

Regalado v. Curling, 430 N.J. Super. 342 (App. Div. 2013). The lesson of this short opinion by Judge Sapp-Peterson, issued the day after this appeal was orally argued due to the need...

Reading the Plain Language of the Patients First Act

Nicholas v. Mynster, 213 N.J. 463 (2013). Until the advent of the New Jersey Medical Care Access and Responsibility and Patients First Act, codified in part at N.J.S.A. 2A:53A-41, "in medical-malpractice cases, physician experts...

No Municipal Liability for 911 Calls

Turner v. Irvington Tp., 430 N.J. Super. 274 (App. Div. 2013). This opinion by Judge Parrillo reversed the denial of the defendant Township's motion for summary judgment in a case that sought...

Grammar and the Municipal Land Use Law

Mahwah Realty Associates, Inc. v. Mahwah Tp., 430 N.J. Super. 247 (App. Div. 2013). This case, in which plaintiffs sought to block development of a health club, has been back and forth to the...

A Very Important Ruling About Late Notices of Tort Claim

D.D. v. University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, 213 N.J. 130 (2013). Under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 59:8-1 et seq. ("TCA"), no lawsuit can be filed against...

A Court Cannot Find "Abuse" or "Neglect" of Child Where Mother Used Drugs During Pregnancy But No Harm Resulted to the Child

Division of Youth & Family Servs. v. A.L., 213 N.J. 1 (2013). When A.L. was admitted to the hospital to give birth to her son, A.D., she tested positive for cocaine. The...

2010 Amendment to Statute of Frauds Can Apply to Palimony Agreements Made Prior to Amendment's Effective Date

Maeker v. Ross, 430 N.J. Super. 79 (App. Div. 2013). In 2010, the Legislature amended the Statute of Frauds, N.J.S.A. 25:1-5(h), to cover "palimony" agreements, that is, "[a] promise by one party to...

Retroactivity … and the Effect of Statutory Numbering

Chiarello v. PERS Bd. of Trustees, 429 N.J. Super. 194 (App. Div. 2012). This opinion by Judge Fisher addressed the question of whether the application of plaintiff for a disability retirement from...

An Unusual Power of the Governor

In re Veto of Minutes of New Jersey Racing Comm'n, 429 N.J. Super. 277 (App. Div. 2012). This case, in which Judge Messano wrote the Appellate Division's opinion, involved an unusual statutory...

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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....