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

Two Arbitration Decisions by the Appellate Division

This week, the Appellate Division decided two very different kinds of arbitration matters. Yesterday, Judge Sabatino issued an opinion in Morison v. Willingboro Bd. of Educ., 478 N.J. Super. 229...

"Illusory Discounts" Violate the Consumer Fraud Act, But Private Plaintiffs Cannot Prevail

Robey v. SPARC Group, LLC, 256 N.J. 541 (2024). Today saw a relatively rare 4-3 decision from the Supreme Court. The majority consisted of Justice Solomon, the author of the...

Alcoholism As a Disability Under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination: An Anniversary

On this date in 1988, the Supreme Court decided Clowes v. Terminix Int'l, Inc., 109 N.J 575 (1988). The Court's unanimous opinion, written by Justice Clifford, stated that "[t]he principal...

The Entire Controversy Continues to Have Potency

Francavilla v. Absolute Resolutions VI, LLC, 478 N.J. Super. 171 (App. Div. 2024). Judge Vanek wrote this opinion for the Appellate Division in this putative class action case. Her first...

"Compact" Ward Boundaries Under the Municipal Ward Law

Jersey City United Against the New Ward Map v. Jersey City Ward Commission, 478 N.J. Super. 132 (App. Div. 2024). [Disclosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg & Afanador, LLC, represents...

When is a Warrantless Automobile Search "Unforeseeable and Spontaneous"?

State v. Baker, 478 N.J. Super. 116 (App. Div. 2024). This opinion by Judge Currier, in a drug possession case, involved once again the automobile exception to the warrant requirement...

"The Unique Facts of This Case" Lead the Supreme Court to Hold That the Defense Was Properly Required to Produce a Certain Affidavit in Reciprocal Discovery

State v. Knight, 257 N.J. 248 (2024). In this opinion by Justice Pierre-Louis today, a unanimous Supreme Court twice stated that the facts of this case were "unique." That is...

The Public Disclosure Bar of the New Jersey False Claims Act

State of New Jersey ex rel. Health Choice Group, LLC v. Bayer Corporation, 478 N.J. Super. 184 (App. Div. 2024). As Judge Gilson discussed in his opinion for the Appellate...

No Jurisdiction in New Jersey Over Boys and Girls Clubs of America

E.T. v. The Boys and Girls Club of Hudson County, 478 N.J. Super. 102 (App. Div. 2024). This appeal actually consisted of six consolidated matters. Similar to recent decisions involving...

The Administrative Agency Standard of Review Applies to Internal Decisions of a University Regarding Removal of a Tenured Faculty Member

Ng v. Fairleigh Dickinson University, 478 N.J. Super. 41 (App. Div. 2024). This opinion by Judge Smith upheld the decision of the Board of Trustees to terminate the employment of...

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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."...