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

Public Employees Lose Again, as Supreme Court Upholds Suspension of Pension Cost of Living Adjustments

Berg v. Christie, 225 N.J. 245 (2016). Today's decision in this closely-watched case shows once again the importance of the standard of review applied. In a 6-1 decision by Justice...

When is a Child Witness Competent to Testify?

State v. Bueso, 225 N.J. 193 (2016). Today, the Supreme Court addressed the issue of how a trial court should evaluate the competency of a child witness to testify. The...

Hospitals Lose Their Appeal of Horizon's OMNIA Health Alliance

Capital Health System, Inc. v. New Jersey Dep't of Banking & Insurance, 445 N.J. Super. 522 (App. Div. 2016). In September 2015, the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance...

Temporary Help Service Firms vs. Employment Agencies, and Registration vs. Licensure

AIT Global Inc. v. Yadav, 445 N.J. Super. 513 (App. Div. 2016). Plaintiff in this case was a temporary help service firm ("THSF") that provided short-term information technology consultants for...

"Cumulative Error" Results in Reversal of a Plaintiffs' Jury Verdict

Torres v. Pabon, 225 N.J. 167 (2016). As Justice Patterson explained in her decision today for a unanimous Supreme Court, "cumulative error" exists when "the aggregate effect of a series...

Gun Control Act is Constitutional as Applied to Machine Guns, and a Trust That Owns a Machine Gun is Subject to That Law

United States v. One Palmetto State Armory PA-15 Machinegun, 822 F.3d 136 (3d Cir. 2016). Constitutional challenges to gun regulations are frequently filed, and most of them are without basis....

A "Chicken-and-Egg Problem" of Subject Matter Jurisdiction in an Estate Case

In re Estate of Byung-Tae Oh, 445 N.J. Super. 402 (App. Div. 2016). In 2001, the decedent in this estate matter, Byung-Tae Oh, at all times a citizen of South...

The "Installment Contract" Approach to the Statute of Limitations

In re Estate of Balk, 445 N.J. Super. 395 (App. Div. 2016). Mark Roseman was the executor of a decedent's estate. The decedent's two sons sued Roseman for breach of...

The Facts Require Reversal of a Summary Judgment of Qualified Immunity

Winberry Realty Partnership v. Borough of Rutherford, 2016 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1019 (App. Div. May 4, 2016). [Disclosure: I represented the successful plaintiffs-appellants on this appeal]. Qualified immunity is...

Pleading Standards in Putative Class Actions in New Jersey State Courts

Baskin v. P.C. Richard & Son, LLC, ___ N.J. ___ (2021). [Disclosure: I am one of the counsel for the successful plaintiffs in this matter]. In this case, the Appellate...

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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....