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

The Supreme Court Speaks About Evidence Rule 404(b)

State v. Carlucci, 217 N.J. 129 (2014). This is another guest post by Jeffrey A. Shooman, who was then my colleague in the Appellate Practice Group of Lite DePalma Greenberg,...

The Supreme Court Grants COAH's Motion for an Extension of Time to Promulgate Third Round Rules

Today witnessed the latest event in the ongoing saga regarding third round rules for low and moderate-income housing to be adopted by the Council on Affordable Housing ("COAH"). As discussed...

No Nursing Home Act Violation, and Therefore No Consumer Fraud Act or TCCWNA Violation Either

Manahawkin Convalescent v. O'Neill, 217 N.J. 99 (2014). This comprehensive opinion by Justice Patterson for a unanimous Court ultimately boils down to this: because plaintiff, a nursing home, did not violate the...

The Supreme Court Stays the Appellate Division's COAH Mandate

As discussed here, on March 7, the Appellate Division directed the Council on Affordable Housing ("COAH") to meet on an expedited basis and adopt third round rules regarding municipal shares of...

A Public Access Anniversary

On March 7, 2007, the Supreme Court decided Tarus v. Borough of Pine Hill, 189 N.J. 497 (2007). In a unanimous opinion by Justice Zazzali, the Court issued a ringing pronouncement...

An Unpublished Opinion Saves the Day for an Insurance Company

Badiali v. New Jersey Manufacturer's Insurance Group, 220 N.J. 544 (2015). [Disclosure: My firm, Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, represents New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company in certain litigation, but the firm...

Supreme Court Civil Practice Committee Report Recommends Changes to the Appellate Rules

The 2014 Report of the Supreme Court Civil Practice Committee has been issued. The Committee has recommended changes to certain appellate rules. Other changes proposed to the Committee were not recommended. The...

"If at First You Don't Succeed …."

Dewey v. Volkswagen, A.G., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 2596 (3d Cir. Feb. 12, 2014). In Dewey v. Volkswagen, A.G., 681 F.3d 170 (3d Cir. 2012), the Third Circuit reversed approval...

Appellate Practice: Lessons Learned From on High

On March 25, the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education will present this seminar. Details and registration information can be found here. I am a panelist, in the extremely...

Supreme Court Will Review Another Referendum Case

As discussed here, the Supreme Court already has on its docket Tumpson v. Farina, 431 N.J. Super. 164 (App. Div. 2013), which involves a referendum in a Faulkner Act municipality. [Disclosure:...

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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."...