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

Can a Municipality be Sanctioned Under the Frivolous Litigation Statute? The Supreme Court Will Decide

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in Borough of Englewood Cliffs v. Trautner. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's office, is "Is a...

Charity Care, A Graves Act Issue, and a Warrantless Search of an Arrestee's Vehicle at a Police Station Come Before the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in three new appeals. The lone civil case in that group is Englewood Hospital & Medical Center v. State of New...

A Criminal Appeal Involving the "Duty to Retreat," and a Civil Case About the Statute of Limitations for Breach of an Installment Contract

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in two new appeals. One is a criminal matter and the other a civil case. The criminal case is State v....

A New Required Certification for Appellate Briefs

The Supreme Court's September 4, 2024 Order providing for the posting online of most Appellate Division and Supreme Court briefs in argued cases, discussed here, has led to an interim...

Disbarred Attorneys May Now Apply for Reinstatement After Five Years

Yesterday, the Supreme Court announced a sea change in the law governing attorney disbarments. Ever since In re Wilson, 81 N.J. 451 (1979), disbarment has been permanent. There was no...

An Ex Post Facto/Parole Case for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted certification in Krug v. New Jersey State Parole Bd. The question presented, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk's office, is "Does...

It's Justice Hoffman Now

As expected, the Senate voted yesterday to confirm John Hoffman, Governor Murphy's nominee to fill the seat vacated by Justice Solomon due to his mandatory retirement, to become an Associate...

John Hoffman, Nominee for the Supreme Court, Clears the Senate Judiciary Committee

As discussed here, Governor Murphy nominated John Hoffman to fill the Supreme Court seat being vacated by Justice Solomon, who reached mandatory retirement this summer. It took until now, over...

The Supreme Court Will Take Up the Jersey City Ward Map Case

The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted certification in Jersey City United Against the New Ward Map v. Jersey City Ward Comm'n. The question presented, as phrased by...

Five New Supreme Court Grants of Review

The Supreme Court announced that it has granted review in five new appeals. Two of those entailed motions for leave to appeal, while the Court granted certification in the 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."...